Simply fantastic to hear Professor Mearsheimer sharing his memories with his son. He's such a great storyteller and you can tell he is so genuinely interested in history and political science. And what a memory he has. I just don't understand how he can remember who did what on exactly which date. I can't remember the exact date for a single event except my birthday. Thank you so much for publishing this very personal interview. The best explanation of the Vietnam war I have ever heard.
Dr Mearsheimer is a great mind and one of the sane voices that the american public need to hear, please do more videos like this one in the future, that would be greatly appreciated.
You can be proud of your father. He is one of most clairvoyant political scientist of his time. Unfortunately for the world, his advice was ignored the first three decades that followed the end of the cold war. I hope for the world that it is not too late. Thank you Max Mearsheimer for this sharing.
Really amazing video! Thank you! It would be great if you make more videos with your father about the american history and politics. P.S. Consider to allow the english auto-generated subtitles.
Seriously. NATIONAL TREASURES the likes of: Thomas Sowell Clarence Thomas J Mearsheimer! Also sad? Where are the Oppenheimers, Tellers, Einsteins, Wigner, Planck, Fermi, Von Neumann, Shockley, Feynman, Sagans of today..? Are these HISTORICAL men's equivalencies people like Krauss, N. Tyson ..? ?? What happened to us?
Max Travel More places and video You talking to Your Dad about History. Thanks for posting this. I am an immense fan of Your Father and this was just very very cool and informative. Cheers!
Really enjoyed this, ease of conversation, personal experience and tiers of knowledge, A1. Good questions too. Should get your old man to do more of these. Reminds me of sitting on barstool in Sunnyside Queens pub having a few with my old fella. Nice.
+Ott Rovgeisha No doubt,I've read his books.But I think you underestimate the insights that can be mined from the mind/life-experience of ordinary Dads.They can sound a lot like JM in this video, not what you hear on MSN. Cheers!
Thank you for making this video, your father possesses a wonderful ability to convey his ideas simply and clearly as well as a real appetite to go out and engage with lots of audiences. Watching videos of him giving lectures on IR helped me make up my mind to take the subject for my MA and I'm glad I did.
The US government had one "strategic concern" in Southeast Asia, though not in Vietnam specifically: rights to minerals like tin and tungsten, which, though thought of by the US general public as common metals, are actually quite rare worldwide. There was no tin in a "tin can," and little if any tungsten in light bulbs at the time, but these metal were crucial to missile construction and development. This was the basis for the popular "domino theory," that if Vietnam went communist, the other countries in the region would follow, cutting off US government access to these metals. Yet only one brief clip of President Eisenhower has surfaced that mentions this issue. It was not addressed in the mainstream US news media once President Johnson began the escalation of the war in 1965.
I might have missed it, but it appears Professor Mearsheimer left out one crucial detail: the US imposed an embargo against Vietnam until 1994, not unlike the one against Cuba, except the latter is still (criminally) in place. Marvelous interview from beginning to end. Thank you for uploading it.
There was never an end game for the Vietnam War. It was a testing ground for new weapons and a chance for the military industrial complex to grow unbelievably wealthy.
He is simply the most fascinating political science professor there is - at least the most interesting to listen to. I think it is how he is able to employ his vast knowledge of theory and especially facts to a subject and give explananations in a clear and cogent manner. My 2 cents as to why I have seen many of his most popular videos on CZcams
Hi could you please please ask your father to do some more of these videos? I love his books but it's quite hard to find lectures by him online except for those on China and Ukraine. Some example topics I'd love to hear him talk about: - the current state of nuclear deterrence (and especially the role of ABMs) - the Korean war - Western Germany during the cold war - The role of the navy in the upcoming (possible) conflict with China
Your dad is a very impressive person. Some USA generals listen to this talk and did their job in Ukraine. Please ask him about the current situation and likelihood of a new Cold War .
that's a very good talk, especially between father and son, that's incredible, thanks for posting it. However, I have three questions/comments: 1. your father's seeing China as a hegemony threat is unfounded if he takes into consideration that even Taiwan is not even taken back (while the issue of territorial integrity is non-negotiable for all Chinese leaders--no one could afford to become a historical scapegoat for losing Taiwan from China's territory). Instead, I argue that the Chinese mostly want to make a buck (or many bucks) quietly for generations to come, (originally) and the U.S. 's stance against China is pushing China to grow a pair, i.e., making China what it is now, as the US made Putin what he is today. 2. I watched various lectures of your father's, and enjoyed his mind greatly. One important question I have not got the chance to hear him talk about is why the US must be in the business of the south China sea (like Vietnam), it is far from the US, and does not have so much to do with the US, why the US take it for granted it must somehow control it/vietnam/taiwan, or at least influence and/or maneuver and/or manipulate and/or incite antagonism among the "players" around it. It is understandable for China, sort of similar to one's neighbor's fence moved a foot over that kind of dispute. But for the US? Does the US still thinks it can lord over the globe? or it thinks that it will always lords over the globe? or is it wiser to take care of what it can and should, and leave other countries businesses to themselves? Sure, it felt good to be the big kahuna, but it does not mean it's right, and...perhaps possible always (let's get realistic). 3. the lesson on Vietnam is still fresh, and why the US would want to stick its fingers in Taiwan---does that US consider the Chinese an easier enemy than the Vietnamese, or China smaller and weaker than Vietnam ? or the Taiwanese government more competent than the southern Vietnamese government in 1965? The US does not learn from its own history of utter failure, does it? Cheers, happy Chinese new year of the Tiger, wish you and your family safety, health, peace, joy and prosperity in the tiger year.
It's not an accident that History classes in high school are taught by coaches and shop teachers.... Watch some John Taylor Gatto videos (if you aren't already familiar). Kids who are being groomed to be the future Elites of this country are not taught the same way as everyone else. The last thing the establishment wants is a class of educated non-elites.
I am a Vietnamese, born in 1968 n Da Nang. I moved in Saigon with my family in 1975, the end of the war. Then, I escaped VN by boat as a “boat people” to the Philippines in 1989. I finally settled in US in winter of 1992. Thank you for this interview.
Things are changing aren't they? One month ago I took cab ride to HCMC airport, the cab driver had statue of Buddha, American and Vietnam flag together in his car ;-)
Max: Thank you so VERY much for uploading this. Please consider (ask?) Given what an AMAZING lecture (better than _ANY_ movie re: Viet Nam...) Is there any chance Dr. Mearsheimer would write & narrate a Documentary? As much as we're all "counting on him to hold out" ...as A _NATIONAL TREASURE_ and as the sole video in your repo, if there're more, ask his approval to share. If there are ideas you could further record: *Please, LMK, I will send the mic and audio recorder.* (my addr is my name at the mail of the biggest search engine) ... Knowledge of his _not preserved_ will, one day, be (sadly) lost forever. A loss tantamount to section of scrolls in the *Library of Alexandria.* ...
I enjoy Dr Mearsheimer on the US topics. But on the topics or issues related to Communist such as Vietnam war, Russian Ukraine war, China , etc he is only 1/2 right. He may be an 1/2 NATIONAL TREASURE
The US "intervention" in Vietnam--mounting casualties aside, no war was ever declared--was NOT an issue of debate in the 1968 Presidential election. It was swept under the proverbial rug by BOTH political parties, which, in obvious collaboration, declared the main campaign issue to be "law and order," an artificial issue unheard of prior to the campaign.
Max, hope you could bting order to the enormous amount of videos with your father and make a sytematized video archive. Hopefully the work can be finanzed by some academic fund?
I heard that, in 1:02:48, that you mentioned the Vietnamese wanted the U.S. to station naval forces in Penang..... Did I get that correctly ? Because I understand that Penang is part of Malaysia, not Vietnam.
It was a very interesting reminiscence of the horrible war, in a more relaxed setting. I am not sure if only for me but the sound was getting worse and worse. Thank you anyway.
Mearsheimer overstates and undervalues the idea of the domino theory; which was not that losing Vietnam would mean we would be fighting in Chicago. And in fact, Vietnam fell, so did Cambodia and Laos. And of course losing those countries fed insurgencies in Philippines and India. Vietnam was one battle in a series of battles which were the cold war. So was Korea and Chile and Israel and and and. This was a protracted struggle which the USA won and in part because of the sacrifices made in Vietnam. You think the USSR could make similar strenuous efforts in Argentina? No. Their system was already overstrained just fighting and refighting wars against Israel (56 67 67 73 82).
My father was an army captain landed in Normandy, before I was born. When I was 10 he and his ear buddies let me sit in the back seat of a big Caddilac as they raced to the club to play golf. I just listened. Their stories were horrible. Why were they alive and their buddies dead? They were. Cold War warriors in the '60s, but they couldn't help it. But meirsheimer gives us a clue.
Many of the officers and suits in the state department and intelligence had Vietnamese girlfriends or mistresses. America itself had a somewhat low average intelligence, heavily skewed downwards by a large portion of both white and African Americans of southern heritage. Our immigration policies had been somewhat racist before. The Vietnam war provided an impetus for many more immigrants of East Asian immigrants. Refugees, war brides, and orphans. It would be hoped this would counter balance the low intelligence or developmentally stunted portion of our population.
Also, @Max Mearsheimer, could you please convince your father to give a masterclass? There are so many great ones there, butr your father would be the best, I have no idea. Also, Paul Krugman teaches economics. Why cannot John Mearsheimer teach political science or international relations?
I would have loved to mentor under this guy, instead of the Socialists at the University of Hawaii. Oh well, I have his books and can view him on CZcams! He has his own way of writing you have to get used to.
Breathtaking amounts of $$ spent by the US in this conflict. This is something he should have mentioned as a reason to fight, the greed involved in a dirty war. Worst chapter of US history after slavery, and still no apology or admission of guilt by US govt.
Mearsheimer in one of his lectures talked about US history from pre-revolutionairy times till now, talking about the genocide of the native Americans, Monroe doctrine and imperialist colonizations. Describing the US as very aggressive state right from the point it was created till now. I've tried to find the video again but failed. If someone recognizes this and has a link for me I'd be mighty gratefull.
The real heroes in the Vietnam War were the brave men and women of Free South Vietnam who fought against the communist invaders. Even in 1972 when most American troops have deserted and left the war, we held on and fought and WON!! Because of the Leftwing back stabbers on Capitol Hill, America did not honor their words to provide material assistance to the Free South Vietnam while the communist North had everything they want. America lost the war but we Free Viets will get back our nation to win the Vietnam War and the communists will all be punished for their crimes against humanity. Amen.
@@TranNguyen-mg9qq Hey stupid, without your Russian and chinese masters, you Vietcongs would be NOTHING. hcm dog was nothing but a TRAITOR who invited back the French to murder millions of Vietnamese people in order for him and his communist criminals to grab power. Soon, communism will FALL in Vietnam and the true government of the Vietnamese people, Viet-Nam Cong-Hoa, will return. If capitalism is so bad, why are Vietcong criminals BEGGING American, Australian, South Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese ANTI-COMMUNISTS, French and others back to Vietnam? Face it, communism SUCKS and NEVER WORKS!!! So why did TWO MILLION VIETNAMESE have to die if you communist CRIMINALS are now BEGGING help from the CAPITALIST WEST?
@@ToiYeuYAHWEH yes i may be stupid, by the way i am not vietcong, just a normal Vietnamese grew up in Vietnam. When will you guys come back to free Vietnam ???
@@TranNguyen-mg9qq Thanks for admitting that you're stupid, stupid. Of course you are a Vietcong since you support communist oppression against our Viet people like the typical communist criminals that you are. Regarding your question, I will answer it with another question: "How did the enslaved and oppressed peoples of Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, East Germany, Yugoslavia, Albania, Russia and others free themselves from their communist masters?" Did they need outside forces to free themselves from communist dictatorship?
1:07:34 Dr. Mersheimer kept saying the ARVN was incompetent and the American had to come in to rescue the war effort. Yet it was convenient for the American to leave Vietnam and removed all military support for the ARVN while the North Vietnamese were getting full support from Soviet & China. This was the reason why South Vietnam could not continued to defend itself. Lack of materials supply, not competent. Now, it’s convenient for America to come back to take advantage of the Vietnamese again. If the Vietnamese do not wake up and stop letting capitalistic ideas and materialistic convenience blind them from the impending doom, Vietnam will be immersed in a conflict which millions of Vietnamese lives will be lost again.
In 1979 China attacked Vietnam with massive army push and captured 28 of the northern districts and in the bargain lost 40 thousand of their soldiers and withdrew after 6 months that is the last war in Vietnam of today
One other factor Lyndon Johnson didn't recognize when he initiated the US military escalation in Vietnam: the landing on Us shores in 1964 of a British rock 'n' roll band called the Beatles with infectious music and unusually--at the time--long hair styles. They changed US youth culture just as "baby boomers" were maturing and that contributed to a change in attitude toward the US government in general and the military with its uniforms and crew cuts in particular. As draft calls rose, enlistments declined, and adolescent voices began chanting "Hell no, we won't go!" The power of popular culture can never be underestimated without major consequences.
Why do Mearsheimer and others use the name "United States" interchangeably with America. There are many other countries in America than the United States. This premise detracts from the otherwise good works of Mearsheimer and many others.
What this old codger says at 3 minutes is poppycock. "We (presumably he means Yanks like himself) worked out a deal where Vietnam is broken up into two parts. This is NOT TRUE! The deal to split Vietnam was made by the French and the Vietminh (really the Vietnamese Communist Party) acting under the strong suggestion of the Soviet Union and Communist China. This was the Geneva Accords of 1953-54. The United States had no part in the discussions. But it did express "serious reservations" about the partition of the country and made reference to the debacle that was ongoing with Korea due to just such an unjust partition. (American diplomats / officials were at Geneva not so much about Indochina but about the Korean War that was ongoing then.) So basically the Americans opposed partition. The non-communist Vietnamese (that is the State of Vietnam) vehemently opposed partition of the country. (The State of Vietnam went on to become the Republic of Vietnam, the government that the USA was trying to defend from overthrow by the Hanoi communists in the sixties). However the State of Vietnam, like the USA (but quite bizarrely, given they represented the viewpoint of a large number of the Vietnamese people) were also not part of the partition discussions. The French and the Vietminh deliberately excluded the State of Vietnam from having any say in the discussions. Over the protests of the State of Vietnam. The day the French and Vietminh signed for partition became an official day of national mourning in the State of Vietnam / The Republic of Vietnam / South Vietnam, known as "National Shame Day". WTF does he mean by "The United States moved in to replace France (after Dienbienphu and the Geneva Accords.)?? How so? The French in 1954 had over 100,000 troops in Vietnam as a force trying keep Vietnam in some way connected to France. The US troops in South Vietnam by 1961 were a few hundred all there to help the Republic of Vietnam keep it's integrity and resist overthrow from communist aggression. Some replacement! He talks about "North Vietnam'" when "North Vietnam" didn't exist yet. (Presumably, he means the Vietminh government). At the very least this is sloppy inaccurate misleading stuff. I've only got 3 minutes in. What more gaffs is he going to make???
@Traiano Wellcome Well, good that you are interested in Vietnam. Whatever the US involvement the key actor in Vietnam all along has been the Vietnamese Communist Party. The Vietnam War will only ever be over when the VCP allows real democracy in Vietnam. It is possible. South Korea is sufficiently similar to Vietnam to be a model of what Vietnam could be.
The general public of the US never realized the US government wasn't fighting communism, but nationalism. What they DID finally realize was that the US "intervention" in Vietnam was dragging on with ever mounting casualties and no end in sight. Even supporters of the war that was never declared began to ask, "Why aren't we winning?" And with the might of the US military, that was a valid question indeed. In short, most people, drawing no political conclusions at all, simply "got tired of" the war and turned against it--unfortunately, WAY too late.
I have listened to the video and read a lot of comments and I'm yet to hear or read anything that would suggest that america was great. So after getting another american history lesson I have yet to discover anything that makes america great? It's all grandiosity and delusional thinking.
This guy is good at geopolitical logical the US uses to justify its aggression. But he fails to touch on the underlying economic reasons like the military industrial complexs motivation to encourage the war. He certainly sounds logical but very narrow and self serving to the yankees
Generally, it's a brilliant interview, except two things. Minor first - could you not check the sound first? I had to download it and pump up the volume to actually hear what the Professor says. Second - total disagreement on the domino theory being false. Cambodia and Laos did fall. Thailand nearly fell, and it is still suffering from the legacy of resisting a communist insurgency - the military keeps on interfering in politics. Indonesia could have fallen and was drifting into the Soviet sphere in 1965 (and considering an invasion of Australia), when the CIA kindly triggered a successful military coup against the communists. The Soviet victory in Vietnam (at least 15,000 Soviets fought there in crucial roles like commando units, fighter pilots and anti-aircraft crews) emboldened USSR. It went on to take over many other governments all over the world. In late 1970's the overall picture was very pessimistic for the West, which was forced to retreat all over the world. This disastrous outlook was broken by the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, after which USSR began to run out of resources. But it was a very uncomfortable time, to which I was a witness.
I lived in Vietnam for two years during Covid, road a bicycle every day, putt putting through heavy traffic, people carrying huge loads on motorbikes, putt putting around this huge city. Towards the end I flew up to Dien Bien Phu and visited the battlefields where the French were defeated. I hung out in the markets. I have also travelled the Mekong Delta where the Viet Cong battled the Americans. Women and children were heavily involved in logisitics and carried rifles in jungles . Back in Saigon I bicycled all over the city visiting over five hundred churches and modern Buddhist temples, including the gorgeous French style church in Chinatown where Diem was executed. I would get up at five am and find churches open with people sitting out on the street listening to mass. I don't care for Mearscheimer's talk. It is nothing I haven't heard before. What he says is correct, but it is all cliche. Something is missing here. The French took the rice from the Vietnamese and starved them. The Americans and French had slave labor rubber plantations in the south killing off a quarter of the workers. I visited a town in the Mekong Delta where the Khmer Rouge murdered 3,500 people. There is a minority population, the Cham people who migrated to Vietnam from Borneo a thousand years ago and became Hindus and built huge towers up and down the coast that the Americans later dropped bombs on, flattening the largest tower at Myson near Danang. The Cham are now Muslims who live in Vietnam, here in Cambodia and in Bangkok along the canals. I have photographed all of the Cham towers up and down the coast and the wonderful syncretic Chinese Buddhist churches in the Red River Dealt southeast of Hanoi and the wonderful syncretic Buddhist churches in Saigon. I don't think Mearsheimer knows much
Well at the end of the day, Mearshimer is still a proponent of American Imperialism and comes from its elite. So his view of this history is going to be skewed in such a way to avoid talking about those things. I haven’t finished the talk but I’m going to assume from this comment that he doesn’t connect the dots for a major American reason for failure in this war, was that they thought they were fighting communism, when the reality is that the Vietnamese people were expressing their anti-colonial beliefs through communism. That’s a fight you can’t win because, like Mearshimer said in previous lectures, you can’t conquer people so easily in the age of nationalism.
@@PageIsYourGod I agree. I shot sixty-five thousand mostly people photos on a bicycle in Saigon. They putt putt around with huge loads on their motorbikes, and when they crash they never yell at each other. I have photos of huge communist flags posted in front of Mc Donald's and Burger King and in front of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange downtown
The second he says that when the French left, the USA moved to take their place, he demonstrates utter incompetence in the history. The French ruled, had their own governmet structure, etc, etc. The USA did no such thing, and had no huge presence in the South in '54 or for years after. Diem ran the place, with some inputs from the US, but was always very much his own man. Next he says "everyone agreed there'd be an election". Again, utter incompetence, the Geneva Accords mentioned possible elections to be held, free elections to be monitored by the UN, and NO ONE signed any commitment to that, certainly not Ho Chi Minh. Diem refused to have an unsupervised election because that would mean a 99% vote counted in the North (communist elections always go that way) and be suicide for the South. I stopped listening after that point, since the inaccuracies and bias of the speaker had been made manifest.
@@motleyzadot6867 My simplest recommendation is to buy the book by Dr. Michael Kort, The Vietnam War Reexamined. It's available quite inexpensively in paperback, and is the best reasonably condensed treatment of the war in a balanced way that I know of.
You’re so wrong that the South Vietnamese were incompetent !!! President Diem was a great president ! All the neighbor countries at that time were wishing they will be like VietNam !!!
There's something about his jovial tone and refusal to ever use the word "immoral" (or similar words), which leaves me with a creepy feeling. I felt the same way when listening to one of his speeches about the Israeli purchasing of our politicians. When asked by a questioner, he couldn't find within himself the moral conviction or courage to condemn US actions abroad as being immoral, focus any attention on the lives of those poor people, any sense of remorse, instead focusing on US interests. I find that gross. Alas, older generation.
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I felt like I was attending his office hours. Fantastic experience watching this. Mearsheimer deserves greater recognition.
Simply fantastic to hear Professor Mearsheimer sharing his memories with his son. He's such a great storyteller and you can tell he is so genuinely interested in history and political science. And what a memory he has. I just don't understand how he can remember who did what on exactly which date. I can't remember the exact date for a single event except my birthday. Thank you so much for publishing this very personal interview. The best explanation of the Vietnam war I have ever heard.
Dr Mearsheimer is a great mind and one of the sane voices that the american public need to hear, please do more videos like this one in the future, that would be greatly appreciated.
Great video. Must make you very proud that your dad is one of the finest minds, and best informed, in the U.S.
You can be proud of your father. He is one of most clairvoyant political scientist of his time. Unfortunately for the world, his advice was ignored the first three decades that followed the end of the cold war. I hope for the world that it is not too late. Thank you Max Mearsheimer for this sharing.
Really amazing video! Thank you!
It would be great if you make more videos with your father about the american history and politics.
P.S. Consider to allow the english auto-generated subtitles.
Please try to do more of these, much appreciated
Mearsheimer should be required to be in every single President's Administration as a foreign policy adviser
Seriously. NATIONAL TREASURES the likes of:
Thomas Sowell
Clarence Thomas
J Mearsheimer!
Also sad? Where are the Oppenheimers, Tellers, Einsteins, Wigner, Planck, Fermi, Von Neumann, Shockley, Feynman, Sagans of today..?
Are these HISTORICAL men's equivalencies people like Krauss, N. Tyson ..? ??
What happened to us?
honestly
He reminds me of Eisenhower
He would be assassinated within the first live conference he holds
he is brilliant at explaining the history. So fortunate to be able to access .
Thank you for sharing this. Anything your dad produces I listen too.
Max Travel More places and video You talking to Your Dad about History. Thanks for posting this. I am an immense fan of Your Father and this was just very very cool and informative. Cheers!
Brilliant. I watched the whole interview without pausing. Masterclass in history. Thanks.
Really enjoyed this, ease of conversation, personal experience and tiers of knowledge, A1. Good questions too. Should get your old man to do more of these. Reminds me of sitting on barstool in Sunnyside Queens pub having a few with my old fella. Nice.
His "old man" is professor John Mearsheimer from Chicago University: so he has insights that not all somebody's "old men" have ;)
+Ott Rovgeisha No doubt,I've read his books.But I think you underestimate the insights that can be mined from the mind/life-experience of ordinary Dads.They can sound a lot like JM in this video, not what you hear on MSN. Cheers!
He’s a great guy still so American, the Vietnamese were colonised and occupied way before the french came along. In case you were wondering.
This was so great... Would love to see him cover different wars/important events in this informal style
Thank you for making this video, your father possesses a wonderful ability to convey his ideas simply and clearly as well as a real appetite to go out and engage with lots of audiences. Watching videos of him giving lectures on IR helped me make up my mind to take the subject for my MA and I'm glad I did.
This is so excellent - more please max!!!
Unbelievable interview highly recommended
Good to see this interview. It's time for the next one, isn't it?
The US government had one "strategic concern" in Southeast Asia, though not in Vietnam specifically: rights to minerals like tin and tungsten, which, though thought of by the US general public as common metals, are actually quite rare worldwide. There was no tin in a "tin can," and little if any tungsten in light bulbs at the time, but these metal were crucial to missile construction and development. This was the basis for the popular "domino theory," that if Vietnam went communist, the other countries in the region would follow, cutting off US government access to these metals. Yet only one brief clip of President Eisenhower has surfaced that mentions this issue. It was not addressed in the mainstream US news media once President Johnson began the escalation of the war in 1965.
Awesome video, thanks for sharing.
I might have missed it, but it appears Professor Mearsheimer left out one crucial detail: the US imposed an embargo against Vietnam until 1994, not unlike the one against Cuba, except the latter is still (criminally) in place. Marvelous interview from beginning to end. Thank you for uploading it.
Would be great if you could make this into a series of interviews on different topics!
Thank you very much, John and Max Mearsheimer.
There was never an end game for the Vietnam War. It was a testing ground for new weapons and a chance for the military industrial complex to grow unbelievably wealthy.
Amazing, you must be very proud to have a father like that. Wow! Great explanation and I love the passion in explaining the events.
Please ask your father ANYTHING and just let him speak! A truly AMAZING man! He needs to become an American mainstream!
Very nice history lesson. I will be posting a link of this video to my Facebook and Twitter accounts.
ken Burns's the Vietnam war documentary is outstanding for anyone wanting a far more detailed explanation of the events that unfolded in Vietnam.
As a Vietnamese-American , Ken Burn’s view of what unfolded in Vietnam seems through 1 eye opened and the other closed
AWESOME DOCUMENTARY!!!!
He is simply the most fascinating political science professor there is - at least the most interesting to listen to. I think it is how he is able to employ his vast knowledge of theory and especially facts to a subject and give explananations in a clear and cogent manner. My 2 cents as to why I have seen many of his most popular videos on CZcams
Great story telling in the best way.
Max - you are a lucky man!
Hi could you please please ask your father to do some more of these videos? I love his books but it's quite hard to find lectures by him online except for those on China and Ukraine. Some example topics I'd love to hear him talk about:
- the current state of nuclear deterrence (and especially the role of ABMs)
- the Korean war
- Western Germany during the cold war
- The role of the navy in the upcoming (possible) conflict with China
As a Vietnamese, i highly appreciate your POV Dr.Mearsheimer, fair and non biased. Hope you to visit our country anytime soon :)
Feel free to travel elsewhere in the World and ask your father for other lessons. It will also be for us and also for your child. Thank you.
what a great video
Excellent summary of Vietnam’s history.
Your dad is a very impressive person. Some USA generals listen to this talk and did their job in Ukraine. Please ask him about the current situation and likelihood of a new Cold War .
Wonderful! Ask him to do such insight on Russia.
I turned 18 in July 1973. Eleven days after the draft was suspended.
Can you do a similar video on the Korean war?
If Cam Ranh Bay was a viable Naval Station similar to NSGB, I think the Joint Chiefs would very much appreciate it.
that's a very good talk, especially between father and son, that's incredible, thanks for posting it. However, I have three questions/comments: 1. your father's seeing China as a hegemony threat is unfounded if he takes into consideration that even Taiwan is not even taken back (while the issue of territorial integrity is non-negotiable for all Chinese leaders--no one could afford to become a historical scapegoat for losing Taiwan from China's territory). Instead, I argue that the Chinese mostly want to make a buck (or many bucks) quietly for generations to come, (originally) and the U.S. 's stance against China is pushing China to grow a pair, i.e., making China what it is now, as the US made Putin what he is today. 2. I watched various lectures of your father's, and enjoyed his mind greatly. One important question I have not got the chance to hear him talk about is why the US must be in the business of the south China sea (like Vietnam), it is far from the US, and does not have so much to do with the US, why the US take it for granted it must somehow control it/vietnam/taiwan, or at least influence and/or maneuver and/or manipulate and/or incite antagonism among the "players" around it. It is understandable for China, sort of similar to one's neighbor's fence moved a foot over that kind of dispute. But for the US? Does the US still thinks it can lord over the globe? or it thinks that it will always lords over the globe? or is it wiser to take care of what it can and should, and leave other countries businesses to themselves? Sure, it felt good to be the big kahuna, but it does not mean it's right, and...perhaps possible always (let's get realistic). 3. the lesson on Vietnam is still fresh, and why the US would want to stick its fingers in Taiwan---does that US consider the Chinese an easier enemy than the Vietnamese, or China smaller and weaker than Vietnam ? or the Taiwanese government more competent than the southern Vietnamese government in 1965? The US does not learn from its own history of utter failure, does it? Cheers, happy Chinese new year of the Tiger, wish you and your family safety, health, peace, joy and prosperity in the tiger year.
No wondered I'm always flunking history in high school , never once gets a teachers like this!
It's not an accident that History classes in high school are taught by coaches and shop teachers.... Watch some John Taylor Gatto videos (if you aren't already familiar). Kids who are being groomed to be the future Elites of this country are not taught the same way as everyone else. The last thing the establishment wants is a class of educated non-elites.
I am a Vietnamese, born in 1968 n Da Nang. I moved in Saigon with my family in 1975, the end of the war. Then, I escaped VN by boat as a “boat people” to the Philippines in 1989. I finally settled in US in winter of 1992. Thank you for this interview.
Have you been back to Vietnam to visit?
@@Dr.Pepper001 yes, the last time was 01/2020.
Things are changing aren't they? One month ago I took cab ride to HCMC airport, the cab driver had statue of Buddha, American and Vietnam flag together in his car ;-)
@@robrob9050 do you like HCMC?
@@ToanNguyen-kk1rs I do.
Max: Thank you so VERY much for uploading this. Please consider (ask?)
Given what an AMAZING lecture (better than _ANY_ movie re: Viet Nam...)
Is there any chance Dr. Mearsheimer would write & narrate a Documentary?
As much as we're all "counting on him to hold out" ...as A _NATIONAL TREASURE_
and as the sole video in your repo, if there're more, ask his approval to share.
If there are ideas you could further record:
*Please, LMK, I will send the mic and audio recorder.*
(my addr is my name at the mail of the biggest search engine) ...
Knowledge of his _not preserved_ will, one day, be (sadly) lost forever.
A loss tantamount to section of scrolls in the *Library of Alexandria.* ...
I enjoy Dr Mearsheimer on the US topics. But on the topics or issues related to Communist such as Vietnam war, Russian Ukraine war, China , etc he is only 1/2 right. He may be an 1/2 NATIONAL TREASURE
By the way sir, you did not make mention of the Vietnamese Amy went into Cambodia for what particular reason?
The US "intervention" in Vietnam--mounting casualties aside, no war was ever declared--was NOT an issue of debate in the 1968 Presidential election. It was swept under the proverbial rug by BOTH political parties, which, in obvious collaboration, declared the main campaign issue to be "law and order," an artificial issue unheard of prior to the campaign.
Max, hope you could bting order to the enormous amount of videos with your father and make a sytematized video archive. Hopefully the work can be finanzed by some academic fund?
Very interesting and clear...he didn't mention the Tonkin Gulf Incident though, which is a bit strange...
I heard that, in 1:02:48, that you mentioned the Vietnamese wanted the U.S. to station naval forces in Penang..... Did I get that correctly ? Because I understand that Penang is part of Malaysia, not Vietnam.
Da Nang not Penang.
47:11 June 3 1970 Agnew ...82nd Airborne mingled in crowd
While on his deathbed, Gen. Douglas MacArthur begged Johnson to stay out of Vietnam.
It was a very interesting reminiscence of the horrible war, in a more relaxed setting. I am not sure if only for me but the sound was getting worse and worse. Thank you anyway.
Mearsheimer overstates and undervalues the idea of the domino theory; which was not that losing Vietnam would mean we would be fighting in Chicago. And in fact, Vietnam fell, so did Cambodia and Laos. And of course losing those countries fed insurgencies in Philippines and India.
Vietnam was one battle in a series of battles which were the cold war. So was Korea and Chile and Israel and and and. This was a protracted struggle which the USA won and in part because of the sacrifices made in Vietnam.
You think the USSR could make similar strenuous efforts in Argentina? No. Their system was already overstrained just fighting and refighting wars against Israel (56 67 67 73 82).
JM's son is, not surprisely, a smart young cat - asking the right incisive questions.
My father was an army captain landed in Normandy, before I was born. When I was 10 he and his ear buddies let me sit in the back seat of a big Caddilac as they raced to the club to play golf. I just listened. Their stories were horrible. Why were they alive and their buddies dead? They were. Cold War warriors in the '60s, but they couldn't help it. But meirsheimer gives us a clue.
Many of the officers and suits in the state department and intelligence had Vietnamese girlfriends or mistresses. America itself had a somewhat low average intelligence, heavily skewed downwards by a large portion of both white and African Americans of southern heritage. Our immigration policies had been somewhat racist before. The Vietnam war provided an impetus for many more immigrants of East Asian immigrants. Refugees, war brides, and orphans. It would be hoped this would counter balance the low intelligence or developmentally stunted portion of our population.
Best IR politic theorist 20th. Centry
It is perfect intro to history of VN and their people - who defeated Mongols and two nuclear powers (US and China)
Also, @Max Mearsheimer, could you please convince your father to give a masterclass? There are so many great ones there, butr your father would be the best, I have no idea. Also, Paul Krugman teaches economics. Why cannot John Mearsheimer teach political science or international relations?
I would have loved to mentor under this guy, instead of the Socialists at the University of Hawaii. Oh well, I have his books and can view him on CZcams!
He has his own way of writing you have to get used to.
Cool dad
45:28
Breathtaking amounts of $$ spent by the US in this conflict. This is something he should have mentioned as a reason to fight, the greed involved in a dirty war. Worst chapter of US history after slavery, and still no apology or admission of guilt by US govt.
Mearsheimer in one of his lectures talked about US history from pre-revolutionairy times till now, talking about the genocide of the native Americans, Monroe doctrine and imperialist colonizations. Describing the US as very aggressive state right from the point it was created till now. I've tried to find the video again but failed. If someone recognizes this and has a link for me I'd be mighty gratefull.
I think it’s this one czcams.com/video/CXov7MkgPB4/video.html
CZcams canceled it
35000 American soldiers died
1,5 million Vietnamese soldiers died
2 million Vietnamese civilian died
7 million tons of TNT
5 American presidents
49:41 how USA get into VN war ?
I wish the journalist would be kept
" muted"
It’s a talk between a father and a son…. You should be grateful you were allowed to be present!
@Athena Koios conversation is when all are contributing . Son isn't contributing; instead, he's eterepting.
@@nbach2202 you obviously don’t have kids. It’s very nice experience. I wish you one or two.
The real heroes in the Vietnam War were the brave men and women of Free South Vietnam who fought against the communist invaders. Even in 1972 when most American troops have deserted and left the war, we held on and fought and WON!!
Because of the Leftwing back stabbers on Capitol Hill, America did not honor their words to provide material assistance to the Free South Vietnam while the communist North had everything they want.
America lost the war but we Free Viets will get back our nation to win the Vietnam War and the communists will all be punished for their crimes against humanity. Amen.
Hello are you day dreaming ... VietNam Cong Hoa is nothing without USA support , just like Ukraine now, both puppet states, and same result soon ..
@@TranNguyen-mg9qq Hey stupid, without your Russian and chinese masters, you Vietcongs would be NOTHING.
hcm dog was nothing but a TRAITOR who invited back the French to murder millions of Vietnamese people in order for him and his communist criminals to grab power. Soon, communism will FALL in Vietnam and the true government of the Vietnamese people, Viet-Nam Cong-Hoa, will return.
If capitalism is so bad, why are Vietcong criminals BEGGING American, Australian, South Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese ANTI-COMMUNISTS, French and others back to Vietnam? Face it, communism SUCKS and NEVER WORKS!!!
So why did TWO MILLION VIETNAMESE have to die if you communist CRIMINALS are now BEGGING help from the CAPITALIST WEST?
@@ToiYeuYAHWEH yes i may be stupid, by the way i am not vietcong, just a normal Vietnamese grew up in Vietnam. When will you guys come back to free Vietnam ???
@@TranNguyen-mg9qq Thanks for admitting that you're stupid, stupid. Of course you are a Vietcong since you support communist oppression against our Viet people like the typical communist criminals that you are.
Regarding your question, I will answer it with another question: "How did the enslaved and oppressed peoples of Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, East Germany, Yugoslavia, Albania, Russia and others free themselves from their communist masters?"
Did they need outside forces to free themselves from communist dictatorship?
Your dad IS a library
he can't utter the fact that the US was internationally condemned for war crimes and illegal aggression in Vietnam...
The United Statesentered this war thinking that we were combating communism; it was Vietnamese nationalism, a losing proposition.
1:07:34
Dr. Mersheimer kept saying the ARVN was incompetent and the American had to come in to rescue the war effort. Yet it was convenient for the American to leave Vietnam and removed all military support for the ARVN while the North Vietnamese were getting full support from Soviet & China. This was the reason why South Vietnam could not continued to defend itself. Lack of materials supply, not competent. Now, it’s convenient for America to come back to take advantage of the Vietnamese again. If the Vietnamese do not wake up and stop letting capitalistic ideas and materialistic convenience blind them from the impending doom, Vietnam will be immersed in a conflict which millions of Vietnamese lives will be lost again.
You say Vietnam, I say V-it-num num
In 1979 China attacked Vietnam with massive army push and captured 28 of the northern districts and in the bargain lost 40 thousand of their soldiers and withdrew after 6 months that is the last war in Vietnam of today
One other factor Lyndon Johnson didn't recognize when he initiated the US military escalation in Vietnam: the landing on Us shores in 1964 of a British rock 'n' roll band called the Beatles with infectious music and unusually--at the time--long hair styles. They changed US youth culture just as "baby boomers" were maturing and that contributed to a change in attitude toward the US government in general and the military with its uniforms and crew cuts in particular. As draft calls rose, enlistments declined, and adolescent voices began chanting "Hell no, we won't go!" The power of popular culture can never be underestimated without major consequences.
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Why do Mearsheimer and others use the name "United States" interchangeably with America. There are many other countries in America than the United States. This premise detracts from the otherwise good works of Mearsheimer and many others.
I really wish you could have the microphone somewhere in the vicinity of his mouth, and not have that bloody squeaky chair.
What this old codger says at 3 minutes is poppycock. "We (presumably he means Yanks like himself) worked out a deal where Vietnam is broken up into two parts. This is NOT TRUE! The deal to split Vietnam was made by the French and the Vietminh (really the Vietnamese Communist Party) acting under the strong suggestion of the Soviet Union and Communist China. This was the Geneva Accords of 1953-54. The United States had no part in the discussions. But it did express "serious reservations" about the partition of the country and made reference to the debacle that was ongoing with Korea due to just such an unjust partition. (American diplomats / officials were at Geneva not so much about Indochina but about the Korean War that was ongoing then.) So basically the Americans opposed partition.
The non-communist Vietnamese (that is the State of Vietnam) vehemently opposed partition of the country. (The State of Vietnam went on to become the Republic of Vietnam, the government that the USA was trying to defend from overthrow by the Hanoi communists in the sixties). However the State of Vietnam, like the USA (but quite bizarrely, given they represented the viewpoint of a large number of the Vietnamese people) were also not part of the partition discussions. The French and the Vietminh deliberately excluded the State of Vietnam from having any say in the discussions. Over the protests of the State of Vietnam.
The day the French and Vietminh signed for partition became an official day of national mourning in the State of Vietnam / The Republic of Vietnam / South Vietnam, known as "National Shame Day".
WTF does he mean by "The United States moved in to replace France (after Dienbienphu and the Geneva Accords.)?? How so? The French in 1954 had over 100,000 troops in Vietnam as a force trying keep Vietnam in some way connected to France. The US troops in South Vietnam by 1961 were a few hundred all there to help the Republic of Vietnam keep it's integrity and resist overthrow from communist aggression. Some replacement!
He talks about "North Vietnam'" when "North Vietnam" didn't exist yet. (Presumably, he means the Vietminh government).
At the very least this is sloppy inaccurate misleading stuff.
I've only got 3 minutes in. What more gaffs is he going to make???
@Traiano Wellcome Well, good that you are interested in Vietnam. Whatever the US involvement the key actor in Vietnam all along has been the Vietnamese Communist Party. The Vietnam War will only ever be over when the VCP allows real democracy in Vietnam. It is possible. South Korea is sufficiently similar to Vietnam to be a model of what Vietnam could be.
The general public of the US never realized the US government wasn't fighting communism, but nationalism. What they DID finally realize was that the US "intervention" in Vietnam was dragging on with ever mounting casualties and no end in sight. Even supporters of the war that was never declared began to ask, "Why aren't we winning?" And with the might of the US military, that was a valid question indeed. In short, most people, drawing no political conclusions at all, simply "got tired of" the war and turned against it--unfortunately, WAY too late.
I have listened to the video and read a lot of comments and I'm yet to hear or read anything that would suggest that america was great. So after getting another american history lesson I have yet to discover anything that makes america great?
It's all grandiosity and delusional thinking.
This guy is good at geopolitical logical the US uses to justify its aggression. But he fails to touch on the underlying economic reasons like the military industrial complexs motivation to encourage the war. He certainly sounds logical but very narrow and self serving to the yankees
Generally, it's a brilliant interview, except two things.
Minor first - could you not check the sound first? I had to download it and pump up the volume to actually hear what the Professor says.
Second - total disagreement on the domino theory being false. Cambodia and Laos did fall. Thailand nearly fell, and it is still suffering from the legacy of resisting a communist insurgency - the military keeps on interfering in politics. Indonesia could have fallen and was drifting into the Soviet sphere in 1965 (and considering an invasion of Australia), when the CIA kindly triggered a successful military coup against the communists.
The Soviet victory in Vietnam (at least 15,000 Soviets fought there in crucial roles like commando units, fighter pilots and anti-aircraft crews) emboldened USSR. It went on to take over many other governments all over the world. In late 1970's the overall picture was very pessimistic for the West, which was forced to retreat all over the world. This disastrous outlook was broken by the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, after which USSR began to run out of resources. But it was a very uncomfortable time, to which I was a witness.
I lived in Vietnam for two years during Covid, road a bicycle every day, putt putting through heavy traffic, people carrying huge loads on motorbikes, putt putting around this huge city. Towards the end I flew up to Dien Bien Phu and visited the battlefields where the French were defeated. I hung out in the markets. I have also travelled the Mekong Delta where the Viet Cong battled the Americans. Women and children were heavily involved in logisitics and carried rifles in jungles . Back in Saigon I bicycled all over the city visiting over five hundred churches and modern Buddhist temples, including the gorgeous French style church in Chinatown where Diem was executed. I would get up at five am and find churches open with people sitting out on the street listening to mass. I don't care for Mearscheimer's talk. It is nothing I haven't heard before. What he says is correct, but it is all cliche. Something is missing here. The French took the rice from the Vietnamese and starved them. The Americans and French had slave labor rubber plantations in the south killing off a quarter of the workers. I visited a town in the Mekong Delta where the Khmer Rouge murdered 3,500 people. There is a minority population, the Cham people who migrated to Vietnam from Borneo a thousand years ago and became Hindus and built huge towers up and down the coast that the Americans later dropped bombs on, flattening the largest tower at Myson near Danang. The Cham are now Muslims who live in Vietnam, here in Cambodia and in Bangkok along the canals. I have photographed all of the Cham towers up and down the coast and the wonderful syncretic Chinese Buddhist churches in the Red River Dealt southeast of Hanoi and the wonderful syncretic Buddhist churches in Saigon. I don't think Mearsheimer knows much
Well at the end of the day, Mearshimer is still a proponent of American Imperialism and comes from its elite. So his view of this history is going to be skewed in such a way to avoid talking about those things.
I haven’t finished the talk but I’m going to assume from this comment that he doesn’t connect the dots for a major American reason for failure in this war, was that they thought they were fighting communism, when the reality is that the Vietnamese people were expressing their anti-colonial beliefs through communism.
That’s a fight you can’t win because, like Mearshimer said in previous lectures, you can’t conquer people so easily in the age of nationalism.
@@PageIsYourGod I agree. I shot sixty-five thousand mostly people photos on a bicycle in Saigon. They putt putt around with huge loads on their motorbikes, and when they crash they never yell at each other. I have photos of huge communist flags posted in front of Mc Donald's and Burger King and in front of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange downtown
The second he says that when the French left, the USA moved to take their place, he demonstrates utter incompetence in the history. The French ruled, had their own governmet structure, etc, etc. The USA did no such thing, and had no huge presence in the South in '54 or for years after. Diem ran the place, with some inputs from the US, but was always very much his own man. Next he says "everyone agreed there'd be an election". Again, utter incompetence, the Geneva Accords mentioned possible elections to be held, free elections to be monitored by the UN, and NO ONE signed any commitment to that, certainly not Ho Chi Minh. Diem refused to have an unsupervised election because that would mean a 99% vote counted in the North (communist elections always go that way) and be suicide for the South. I stopped listening after that point, since the inaccuracies and bias of the speaker had been made manifest.
Yeah, this was an incredibly streamlined lecture. Is there a better source you can recommend me?
@@motleyzadot6867 My simplest recommendation is to buy the book by Dr. Michael Kort, The Vietnam War Reexamined. It's available quite inexpensively in paperback, and is the best reasonably condensed treatment of the war in a balanced way that I know of.
@@rdelvecchio7998 thanks
You’re so wrong that the South Vietnamese were incompetent !!! President Diem was a great president ! All the neighbor countries at that time were wishing they will be like VietNam !!!
us done so much wrong thing that reason for defeted
There's something about his jovial tone and refusal to ever use the word "immoral" (or similar words), which leaves me with a creepy feeling. I felt the same way when listening to one of his speeches about the Israeli purchasing of our politicians. When asked by a questioner, he couldn't find within himself the moral conviction or courage to condemn US actions abroad as being immoral, focus any attention on the lives of those poor people, any sense of remorse, instead focusing on US interests. I find that gross. Alas, older generation.
Not true. You did not understand then what he said obviously
What about the big “Gulf of
Tonkin” lie ???