Before his assassination, Kennedy used military advisors and special forces in Vietnam almost exclusively. In early 1962, Kennedy formally authorized escalated involvement when he signed the National Security Action Memorandum – “Subversive Insurgency (War of Liberation)”.

In October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. President Kennedy did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles. He met in secret with his advisors for several days to discuss the problem.

In 1961, Kennedy faced three events that made it appear as if the U.S. was bending to communism: the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the construction of the Berlin Wall, and communist political movement in Laos, called Pathet Lao, which received Soviet support in 1961.

Kennedy expanded military aid to the government of President Ngô Đình Diệm, increased the number of U.S. military advisors in South Vietnam, and reduced the pressure that had been exerted on Diệm during the Eisenhower Administration to reform his government and broaden his political base.

The Vietnam War had its origins in the broader Indochina wars of the 1940s and ’50s, when nationalist groups such as Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh, inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism, fought the colonial rule first of Japan and then of France.

Eisenhower

As such, despite their historical past, today Vietnam is considered to be a potential ally of the United States, especially in the geopolitical context of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and in containment of Chinese expansionism.

Russia is a current ally of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the few non-Orthodox allies along with India besides its loose ally ship with China and North Korea.

U.S.-LAOS RELATIONS The United States established full diplomatic relations with Laos in 1955, following its full independence from France in 1954. Within a few years, Laos entered into a civil war, and the United States supported the country’s royalist government.

The U.S. bombing of Laos (1964-1973) was part of a covert attempt by the CIA to wrest power from the communist Pathet Lao, a group allied with North Vietnam and the Soviet Union during the Vietnam War.

The CIA was responsible for directing natives of Laos to fight the North Vietnamese. Although such efforts were ended at the signing the Paris Peace Accords, the CIA believed it a success as it managed to fight the enemy to a standstill and combat the communist threat. They saw it as a victory and as an accomplishment.

Laos has established relations with 134 countries (including the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the State of Palestine) and the European Union. Laos has not yet established diplomatic relations with: El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Uruguay. Belize, Bahamas, Haiti, Antigua and Barbuda, St.

Long Tieng (also spelled Long Chieng, Long Cheng, or Long Chen) is a Laotian military base in Xaisomboun Province. During the Laotian Civil War, it served as a town and airbase operated by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States….

1973

Laos is currently our 154th largest goods trading partner with $165 million in total (two way) goods trade during 2019. Goods exports totaled $17 million; goods imports totaled $148 million. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Laos was $131 million in 2019.

Laos became independent in 1953, but only adopted market reforms in the late 1980s. Major trading partners include Thailand, China and Vietnam. Main exports are timber, mining commodities and hydroelectricity. Major imports include machinery, equipment and motor vehicles.

Top 10 Exports from Laos

• Mineral fuels including oil: US$1.4 billion (24.8% of total exports)
• Electrical machinery, equipment: $675.3 million (11.8%)
• Copper: $614.6 million (10.7%)
• Ores, slag, ash: $539.1 million (9.4%)
• Woodpulp: $269.7 million (4.7%)
• Rubber, rubber articles: $260.9 million (4.5%)

The modern nation-state Laos emerged from the French Colonial Empire as an independent country in 1953. Laos exists in truncated form from the thirteenth century Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. The borders of the modern state of Laos were established by the French colonial government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1893, the three territories came under a French protectorate and were united to form what is now known as Laos….Laos.