American Involvement In The Vietnam War Essay

Moreover, politics does or should deal with all elements, as Morgenthau himself believes that “real man is a composite of economic man, political man, moral man, etc” (1993,17). There are many aspects to man, and thus power cannot be the sole tool to analyze international behaviour. Morgenthaus’ over emphasis of the concept ‘interest defined in terms of power’ consequently blurs out other factors that affect and determine the use of national power. No single cause can explain political phenomena. The concept of power does not allow one to wholly understand or analyze pertinent factors of foreign policy, such as a nation’s’ impetus for war, that underlie political phenomena. As power considerations are not the only factor that result in such decisions, other factors, such as domestic support, beliefs and values, state motivations and international shared beliefs (which even Morgenthau admits have played a role in US foreign policy) need to be considered to render the concept of national interest sufficiently complex (Mahendra 1976). Morgenthau’s dismissal of …show more content…
He indicated that in the beginning it was the national interest for the US to go to Vietnam. He posited, “involvement in the Vietnam War is justified by this demonological conception of the world, which assigns to the United States the mission to defend the free world against aggression and subversion from the Communist conspiracy” (Morgenthau 1970: 15). As the war progressed, Morgenthau subsequently believed that it was in the US national interest to leave Vietnam (1993). This indicates the inconsistency in the use of Morgenthau’s concept of the national interest. On the one hand, national interest is in the context of going to war. On the other hand, national interest is used to leave the war. Its changeable nature renders it inadequate to explain the behaviour of