Description
Since the late 1940s, the United States (U.S.) has made several attempts at nation-building, defined as U.S. political, economic, and military intervention into a foreign country with the intent of establishing a pro-U.S. government or democracy. Many Americans associate nation-building with catastrophic failure, largely due to Vietnam in 1975 and Afghanistan in 2021. The primary reason for the U.S.' failure to nation-build was the lack of political and public support, both from the populations of the U.S. at home, and the native Vietnamese / Afghani populations. Growing resentment, or lack of interest in the war effort destroyed American morale, creating a desire to quickly end the conflict. When combined with disorganized military and political objectives, as well as a lack of cultural understanding of Vietnam / Afghanistan on the part of the Americans, it becomes clear why both these efforts ended in catastrophe, and the desperate evacuation of civilians from the U.S. embassy in Saigon in 1975, or Kabul in 2021.
The Snowball Effect - Why the U.S. Gets Knocked Out Cold in Vietnam and Afghanistan
Since the late 1940s, the United States (U.S.) has made several attempts at nation-building, defined as U.S. political, economic, and military intervention into a foreign country with the intent of establishing a pro-U.S. government or democracy. Many Americans associate nation-building with catastrophic failure, largely due to Vietnam in 1975 and Afghanistan in 2021. The primary reason for the U.S.' failure to nation-build was the lack of political and public support, both from the populations of the U.S. at home, and the native Vietnamese / Afghani populations. Growing resentment, or lack of interest in the war effort destroyed American morale, creating a desire to quickly end the conflict. When combined with disorganized military and political objectives, as well as a lack of cultural understanding of Vietnam / Afghanistan on the part of the Americans, it becomes clear why both these efforts ended in catastrophe, and the desperate evacuation of civilians from the U.S. embassy in Saigon in 1975, or Kabul in 2021.