"Phoenix Program" And The "Counterinsurgency" Strategy Of The United States In South Vietnam (1967-1971)

This thesis mainly discusses the historical facts of the “counterinsurgency” policy implemented by the United States in South Vietnam and the origin,expansion,reform and decline of the “Phoenix program” with the changes of the “counterinsurgency” policy.There are many explanations about the definition of “counterinsurgency”,but the essence of “counterinsurgency” is to comprehensively use of political,economic,military,paramilitary and other means to defeat the “rebellion”.In the Vietnam War,it specifically refers to the defeat of the North Vietnam and its Southern National Liberation Front.The “Phoenix program” was jointly implemented by the United States and the South Vietnam,which was initiated for intelligence sharing,aimed at accurately combating the leaders of the Communist Party.Phoenix is a symbol of power in the Vietnamese culture,meaning that the “Phoenix program” can ensure the stability of the South Vietnamese government and make the “counterinsurgency” project a success.However,in the actual implementation process,in order to find out the members of the Southern Vietnamese National Liberation Front in the countryside,the “Phoenix program” deviated from its original purpose to arrest and assassination.In order to win the war the United States used combination measures of military and “counterinsurgency” during the Vietnam War.From the point of view of military,the United States' operations developed into a limited war during the Kennedy era,Johnson escalated the war and the Nixon administration withdrew from the Vietnam.From the perspective of “counterinsurgency”,Kennedy officially launched the “counterinsurgency” policy on the basis of the development of the “counterinsurgency” concept.Johnson inherited and developed Kennedy's “counterinsurgency” policy.Nixon vigorously developed the “Phoenix program”,which was launched at late Johnson administration;he also used the “Phoenix program” as a deterrent in Paris negotiations,and also as an auxiliary project for withdrawal from the Vietnam.The main purpose of the United States' coordinating with the South Vietnam government in launching the “Phoenix program” was to coordinate the work among various departments.However,in the implementation process,the nature of the “Phoenix program” had changed.In addition to departmental coordination of intelligence information,there also were many implementation units,such as the PRU was responsible for arresting members of the NFL(National Front for Liberation of South Vietnam),and assassinations,confession of torture,and other abuses of civilians occurred frequently.So the nature of the “Phoenix program” caused great controversy.By studying the historical development of the origin,development,results and impact of the “Phoenix program”,this paper finds that the “Phoenix program” played an unusual role in the “Vietnamization” of the Vietnam War.The “Phoenix program” was a "Vietnamization" project from the time of its launching.In the early days of Nixon,because Nixon formulated the policy of negotiating,beating,“Vietnamization”,and withdrawing from the Vietnam,the South Vietnam adopted the “Phoenix program” as an important method to keep it's political power.Nixon subsequently proposed the “Vietnamization” policy of the Vietnam War.Four months later,on July 25,1969,Nixon proposed Guamism.Four months later,on November 3,1969,Nixon proposed Nixonism that marking the formation of a US contraction strategy from Asia.This article mainly uses the Foreign Relations of the United States(FRUS)and other related documents as archival materials to study the US's "counterinsurgency" policy in the South Vietnam.The archival materials of the “Phoenix program” are mainly from the Virtual Vietnam Archive of Texas Tech University.In addition,this article also uses the Digital National Security Archive(DNSA),GALE-US Declassified Documents Online(DDRS),and CIA archives as auxiliary materials.The main content of the article includes five parts.The introduction part mainly summarizes the significance of the topic selection and the existing research status of the "counterinsurgency" theory and the “Phoenix program”,and putting forward the shortcomings of the existing research.Based on the above,the general direction of innovation of this thesis is proposed.The main part introduces the background of the US's "counterinsurgency" policy in the South Vietnam and the “Phoenix program”,the inheritance of the "counterinsurgency" policy of the Johnson Administration and the origin of the “Phoenix program”,the change of the "counterinsurgency" policy in late Johnson's and the expansion of the “Phoenix program”,the reform of the “Phoenix program” in the initial Nixon administration and the introduction of the "Vietnamization" policy of the Vietnam War,Nixon's second "Vietnamization" policy and the decline of the “Phoenix program”.The last part is the concluding part,which includes the positioning of the “Phoenix program”,and the analysis of the “Phoenix program”,the US "counterinsurgency" policy in the South Vietnam,and even the impact of the Vietnam War on the United States.In addition,besides focusing on the main line of the historical process of the origin,expansion,reform,and decline of the “Phoenix program” in the context of the "counterinsurgency" policy implemented by the United States in the South Vietnam,this article also considers the Nixon Administration's "Vietnamization" policy of the Vietnam War,the origin of Nixonism,American bureaucracy and other aspects.At the same time,it also mentioned some links with the contemporary issues,such as the relationship between the “Phoenix program” and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.An examination of the above-mentioned related issues will assist to have a more comprehensive understanding of the "counterinsurgency" policy of the United States in the South Vietnam during the Cold War and the operation mode of the “Phoenix program”.