The Southeast Asia War (1961–1973) resulted from the U.S. policy called “containment,” which sought to hold communism to its early Cold War borders. The main U.S. goal in the Southeast Asia War was to protect South Vietnam—initially from a local communist insurgency and later from conquest by communist North Vietnam. The U.S. also hoped to prevent the spread of communism to other nearby countries.
Although the conflict is popularly known as the Vietnam War, U.S. efforts included military action not only in South and North Vietnam, but also in neighboring Southeast Asian countries.
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