WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The domino theory was a Cold War policy that suggested a communist government in one nation would quickly lead to communist takeovers in neighboring states, each falling like a row of dominos.

Detailed explanation-2: -Eisenhower coins one of the most famous Cold War phrases when he suggests the fall of French Indochina to the communists could create a “domino” effect in Southeast Asia. The so-called “domino theory” dominated U.S. thinking about Vietnam for the next decade.

Detailed explanation-3: -The domino theory assumed that Soviets, communists, and socialists everywhere were unqualifiedly evil. An American nuclear strike on Vietnam was essential in order to halt a Viet Cong victory which would set off a chain reaction of countries falling to the communists, like a row of falling dominoes.

Detailed explanation-4: -The primary evidence for the domino theory is the spread of communist rule in three Southeast Asian countries in 1975, following the communist takeover of Vietnam: South Vietnam (by the Viet Cong), Laos (by the Pathet Lao), and Cambodia (by the Khmer Rouge).

Detailed explanation-5: -The Cold War “containment” notion was born of the Domino Theory, which held that if one country fell under communist influence or control, its neighboring countries would soon follow. Containment was the cornerstone of the Truman Doctrine as defined by a Truman speech on March 12, 1947.