The Cold War Podcast You've Been Waiting For.
After the Haiphong incident, Ho started preparing Hanoi for an attack. First, he made a public speech appealing to the French to withdraw their troops. They ignored him. “If those gooks want a fight, they’ll get it,” declared French General Valluy. Ho, Giap and Truong Chinh came up with a three stage plan, borrowed from Mao….
Vietnam. 1947. The U.S. Consul in Saigon, Charles Reed, is the first American official to use the term “domino theory”. He’s talking about what will happen in Cambodia and Laos if Cochin China falls to the VietMinh, who he wrongly concludes are taking orders from Moscow. Meanwhile Ho is playing Good Cop Bad Cop while…
Vietnam. Late 1946. The gears of war are turning. One President commits suicide. Another continues to fight for a peaceful settlement. A new government is formed. Then the French army in Indochina decides to take matters into its own hands. They seize a Chinese junk in Haiphong harbour – a deliberate provocation. The Vietminh fire…
Benn Steil is an American economist, author of a great new book on “The Marshall Plan”, and senior fellow and director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. HOW TO LISTEN If you’re already a subscriber, you can listen to the full show in the player below or subscribe through iTunes or any…
* Fission involved breaking apart the nuclei of heavy elements like uranium or plutonium. * Fusion involves forcing the nuclei of lighter elements, like hydrogen or deuterium, together. * And deuterium, which is basically heavy hydrogen, is far easier to get your hands on than uranium. * But there’s still not a ton of it….