Before the Quagmire: American Intervention in Laos, 1954-1961

by William J. Rust

Overview

In the decade preceding the first U.S. combat operations in Vietnam, the Eisenhower administration sought to defeat a communist-led insurgency in neighboring Laos. Although U.S. foreign policy in the 1950s focused primarily on threats posed by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, the American engagement in Laos evolved from a small cold war skirmish into a superpower confrontation near the end of President Eisenhower's second term. Ultimately, the American experience in Laos foreshadowed many of the mistakes made by the United States in Vietnam in the 1960s.

In Before the Quagmire: American Intervention in Laos, 1954–1961, William J. Rust delves into key policy decisions made in Washington and their implementation in Laos, which became first steps on the path to the wider war in Southeast Asia. Drawing on previously untapped archival sources, Before the Quagmire documents how ineffective and sometimes self-defeating assistance to Laotian anticommunist elites reflected fundamental misunderstandings about the country's politics, history, and culture. The American goal of preventing a communist takeover in Laos was further hindered by divisions among Western allies and U.S. officials themselves, who at one point provided aid to both the Royal Lao Government and to a Laotian general who plotted to overthrow it. Before the Quagmire is a vivid analysis of a critical period of cold war history, filling a gap in our understanding of U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia and America's entry into the Vietnam War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813135786
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	06/29/2012
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William J. Rust, a former journalist and communications consultant, is the author of Kennedy in Vietnam: American Vietnam Policy, 1960–1963.

Table of Contents

Maps vi

Abbreviations ix

Introduction: Interested Outside Powers 1

1 The Most Difficult Post in the Entire Foreign Service 14

2 A Frontier Country in the Cold War 43

3 Behind the Scenes 66

4 Dangerously Unstable 87

5 Drawing the Line 105

6 Dichotomy 132

7 Normal Dishonesty 158

8 Unacceptable Developments 175

9 Who the Hell Is Our Boy? 202

10 Virtually a Traitor 229

Epilogue: A Legacy of Strife and Confusion 256

Acknowledgments 271

Notes 273

Bibliography 297

Index 307

Editorial Reviews

Journalist and historian Rust (Kennedy in Vietnam: American Vietnam Policy, 1960–1963) makes a major contribution to the literature on America’s Southeast Asian involvement with this comprehensively researched, well-written study of a usually overlooked aspect. Dwight Eisenhower’s presidential reputation rests in good part on his management of foreign policy crises. Rust makes a convincing case for Laos as a glaring exception. As early as 1954 Eisenhower’s administration was seeking to counter a Communist insurgency in that newly independent state. The result was “ case study in transforming a small foreign-policy problem into a large one.” Recognizing its taproots in cold war anxiety and groupthink, Rust describes a pattern of intervention in Laotian politics that only destabilized noncommunist elements. The CIA, State Department, and military held differing opinions and worked at cross purposes. Seeking a quick solution, the U.S. overemphasized military assistance. It supported would-be leaders more concerned with gaining power than fighting insurgents. Eventually the U.S. wound up supporting both the government and a faction seeking to overthrow it. The Soviet Union, perceiving itself challenged, became directly and diplomatically engaged in the conflict. As Rust ably demonstrates, Laos prefigured Vietnam. 26 photos, 2 maps. Agent: John Ware, John A. Ware Literary Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Before the Quagmire is a well-documented read that we give three stars. — Military Bookshelf

Military Bookshelf

Missing too long from the ranks of Southeast Asia observers, William J. Rust shows in ample detail why his voice is needed. Rust has found a hole in our understanding of the evolution of the Vietnam War—the origins of the conflict in Laos—and ably filled it. Before the Quagmire provides a fascinating look, in intimate terms, at the path of U.S. policy in the 'Land of a Million Elephants.'

John Prados

This well-written and well-researched book hones in on American policies toward Laos from the end of the First Indochina War in 1954 to the passing of the baton to JFK in 1961.

VVA Veteran

William J. Rust effectively argues that US handling of the situation in Laos was a key misstep in regional affairs and a precursor to the Vietnam War. But the book is actually a diplomatic process tutorial that explains what happens when government officials and interested parties seek to manipulate circumstances to their own ends....Rust's excellent account of US-Laotian conundrums fills a historiographical gap and will assuredly be the standard work. It is an essential reference for those interested in the pre-Vietnam War era and America's general involvement in Southeast Asian Cold War Affairs.

The Historian

The large shadow of Vietnam has for too long obscured pivotal pieces of the Southeast Asian mosaic, and William Rust has provided a valuable service for both scholars and the public by producing this rigorous monograph on Laos during the Eisenhower years. Through painstaking research he shows Laos as both a precedent and catalyst for the Vietnam War. The story is a vitally important reminder of how even an extremely capable administration can make small mistakes that lead to tragic consequences.

Temple University Richard H. Immerman

"Details the division between the Americans and the British and within the U.S. government itself, as the Americans tried to cope with a country whose politics they did not fully understand." —Foreign Affairs

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