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Full profile page: Bc. Zuzana Košťálová

State-building is a complex process that involves diverse areas. Some experts identify state-building with post-conflict reconstruction, some consider it part of post-conflict reconstruction. Given that state-building in the SE was preceded by an end to the conflict, or rather the Indochina War, state-building in this work is understood as a post-conflict reconstruction, which consists of four main pillars. These main pillars include ensuring security, the economic and social agenda, the creation of a legal system and the creation of a system of governance.

State-building is a complex process, the definition of which is still the subject of debate. Some scientists identify state-building with post-conflict reconstruction and some do not. In this work, state-building overlaps with the process of post-conflict reconstruction, given that state-building began after the end of the conflict, or after the Indochina War. It is understood as the restoration of the socio-economic and political structure of society after the end of the conflict by international actors and the affected state.

In identifying the reasons for the failure of state-building in the South Vietnam, which stood on the side of the US, I proceed according to the levels of analysis of US foreign policy. I will analyze foreign policy at the following four levels of analysis - at the level of the international system, the level of the state, the level of domestic influences and the level of the individual.

In identifying the factors of state-building failure that stood on the side of South Vietnam itself, I have followed the four pillars - security, justice and reconciliation, the social and economic agenda, and governance and political participation - that define successful state-building.

External factors that directly or indirectly influenced the state-building process may include North Vietnam, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. These factors had a negative impact mainly on the security situation in the South Vietnam. The GDR indirectly but also directly disrupted the efforts of the South Vietnamese government to ensure security in the country. In the case of the USSR and China, this was an indirect effect. Also, the problems in Laos and Cambodia, which were interrelated to the situation in the SV, could be among the factors that influenced the state-building process in the SV.

Attachments

The US state-building program in South Vietnam began in 1954 following the Geneva Accords. The Geneva Agreements ended the Indochina War and established a provisional border dividing Vietnam into the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and South Vietnam. The goal of the United States was to build a functioning state that would serve as a defensive wall against the spread of communist expansion to other countries in Asia. This attempt failed and culminated in the capitulation of the South Vietnamese government after the arrival of North Vietnamese troops in Saigon in 1975. The following year, South Vietnam was officially united with North Vietnam and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was formed.

State-building is a complex process that involves diverse areas. Some experts identify state-building with post-conflict reconstruction, some consider it part of post-conflict reconstruction. Given that state-building in the SE was preceded by an end to the conflict, or rather the Indochina War, state-building in this work is understood as a post-conflict reconstruction, which consists of four main pillars. These main pillars include ensuring security, the economic and social agenda, the creation of a legal system and the creation of a system of governance.

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