Cold War in Asia

 

Study Questions-Reading

The Earth and Its Peoples, 836-9
1. Why did the U.S. lose the Vietnam war?

Human Record, pp. 443-6
1. What is Nguyen Thai Hoc's view of French colonial rule in Vietnam?
2. Why did French rule of Vietnam encouraged Nguyen to become a nationalist demanding independence?
3. How do Nguyen's tactics for gaining independence differ from those of Mohandas Gandhi's in India?

Mathabane, Kaffir Boy, pp. 123-211

1. Why is attending school so controversial in the black ghetto?

2. What explains the pervasive violence in the ghetto and even Mathabane's school?

3. How does South African racism buttress the apartheid system? Can black attitudes toward whites be considered racism?

4. What is the role of tribalism in South Africa? Why does Mathabane believe that it is as damaging to blacks as apartheid? Do you agree?

Study Questions-Lecture

1. Compare and contrast the reasons for communist victories in China and Vietnam.
2. How and why did the US policies toward the Chinese and Vietnamese civil wars differ?