Dominoes and Bandwagons Strategic Beliefs and Great Power Competion in the Eurasian Rimland

Fearing the loss of Korea and Vietnam would touch off a chain reaction of other countries turning communist, the United States fought two major wars in the hinterlands of Asia. What accounts for such exaggerated alarm, and what were its consequences? Is a fear of the domino effect permanently rooted in the American strategic psyche, or has the United States now adopted a less alarmist approach? The essays in this book address these questions by examining domino thinking in United States and Soviet Cold War strategy, and in earlier historic settings. Combining theory and history in analyzing issues relevant to current public policy, Dominoes and Bandwagons examines the extent to which domino fears were a rational response, a psychological reaction, or a tactic in domestic politics.

The domino theory has been the central organizing concept behind American containment strategy in the postwar period. This strategy was behind the involvement of America in the wars in Korea and Vietnam: neither country was of great economic, military, or cultural value to the US, yet policy-makers assumed that defeats against these nations might create precedents for areas of greater intrinsic interest. In this collection, Stephen Walt, Ted Hopf, Douglas Blum, Milan Hauner, the editors, and others, address crucial issues about the strategic beliefs that shape the competition between the superpowers in the Eurasian rimland.