TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA KHỦNG HOẢNG WATERGATE ĐẾN CHÍNH SÁCH CỦA HOA KÌ ĐỐI VỚI VIỆT NAM CỘNG HÒA THỜI TỔNG THỐNG R. NIXON (GIAI ĐOẠN: 1973-1974)

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the Watergate crisis and U.S. policy toward the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) after the 1973 Paris Peace Accords based on primary sources published by the U.S. Department of State and existing scholarly research. The study primarily employs historical and documentary analysis. The findings reveal that, as presidential authority weakened as a result of the Watergate crisis, the RVN was downgraded in the hierarchy of U.S. foreign policy priorities. Nevertheless, rather than abandoning the RVN altogether, the Nixon administration continued diplomatic efforts to address the central issue underlying the RVN’s survival: halting the flow of personnel and military supplies from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) to South Vietnam. In the face of growing opposition from the U.S. Congress, these efforts were nearing collapse by August 1974. From that point onward, U.S. policy toward the RVN after 1973 effectively failed to achieve its objectives.