U.S. to Lift Arms Embargo on Vietnam
President Obama said at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Monday that the United States had agreed to lift completely its embargo on lethal weapons sales.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS on Publish Date May 23, 2016. Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times.The following lesson activity is based on the article “Vietnam Arms Embargo to Be Fully Lifted, Obama Says in Hanoi.”
Before Reading
What was the Cold War? Can you think of any ways that the Cold War, even though it ended decades ago, still influences United States foreign policy?
After Reading
Answer the questions, supporting your responses by citing evidence from the text.
1. What legal vestige of the Vietnam War did President Obama announce this week that he is ending?
2. Why did the United States make this policy shift, according to Mr. Obama?
3. How did human rights advocates react?
4. How does China figure into the relationship between Vietnam and the United States?
5. Do you think the president made the right decision in lifting the arms embargo? Why?
Going Further
Read the Op-Ed essay “Moving On in Vietnam, but Remembering Its Lessons” by John Kerry, John McCain and Bob Kerrey, each of whom served in the Vietnam War. Mr. Kerry is the secretary of state. Mr. McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Mr. Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska, is chairman of the board of Fulbright University Vietnam. Do agree with the four lessons learned from the war that they detail in their Op-Ed essay? Why?
Related
Student Crossword | The Vietnam War
Jan. 23, 1973 | Nixon Announces End of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam