Three Attempts at Cold War Neutralization: Its Success in Austria and Laos and its Failure in Vietnam

During the Cold War, the inherent mistrust between the United States and the Soviet Union kept the two superpowers from cooperating even on many projects that might have proven mutually beneficial. Nevertheless, they were willing to work together at least occasionally; two such examples are the neutralizations of Austria (in 1955) and of Laos (in 1962). Despite very different world orders in those two countries at those times, the weaker superpowers in each contest, the Soviets in Austria and the Americans in Laos, took very similar actions. They followed the same three-stage process from the outbreak of the dispute to its negotiated conclusion. This process failed, however, in Vietnam. In trying to explain why neutralization failed so soon after its success, this thesis postulates a number of possible explanations. Ultimately, it was several factors coming to result in the failure of neutralization in Vietnam.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Year

2003

Author dc:creator

• Crawford, Benjamin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bischof, Gunter
• Altman, Ida
• Clark, Michael

• Neutrality
• Cold War
• Neutralization
• Vietnam
• Laos
• Austria

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/43

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-1042