Revolutionary movements, like other major changes in the international system, affect the development of nations and directly or indirectly touch millions of people's lives. The responses they elicit from other nations provide further proof of the impact they have on a range of issues for international affairs. Of the revolutions that were also national independence movements over the past two-and-a-half centuries, the American Revolution stands out the most because of what it promised ideologically, for what it ostensibly championed subsequently, and for what it has ultimately meant to the nature of international relations once the United States assumed a greater role in the economic, political, and diplomatic conduct of those affairs. Its impact has been significant and enduring.

The case for comparing the American and Vietnamese revolutions is not an obvious one. The United States fought for its independence against the nation and government whose policies had created the loose association of colonies in the first place. The familial and fraternal bonds across the Atlantic Ocean were strong. Both colonists and British spoke the same language. Economic ties were vigorous, and many well-to-do families in North America sent their children to England for schooling.

The relationship between Vietnam and the United States had none of the same qualities. In fact, Vietnam was not a significant part of American history, culture, politics, or diplomacy prior to 1950. Vietnam did not rebel against American control; rather, the United States tried to interpose itself in the course of a determined Vietnamese independence movement, one that had its origins in opposition to French colonial rule in the nineteenth century.