Soviet Strategy and Goals During the Vietnam Conflict Essay

This paper describes how the Soviet Union hoped to use the American war in Vietnam to bring the United States and China into conflict with each other. The USSR also hoped to use this time to catch up to the US in the strategic arms race.

From the paper:

"The Soviet Union had two goals in mind regarding the conflict in Vietnam: to contain China by drawing the Chinese into conflict with the United States and to buy time to catch up with the Americans in the strategic arms race by keeping them occupied in southeast Asia. In 1957, Mao Zedong was prepared to remove China from the control of the Soviet Union. Stalin's death, the Soviet succession struggle, and his own internal political and economic positioning had made this opportunity possible."