Question

What were the effects of the Vietnam War? How is Vietnam today and how has Vietnam progressed in the last 30 years?

Answer 1

The short answer is that the Vietnam War ultimately united north and south Vietnam under communist rule. It was also seen as a black mark against America's reputation as a superpower and has been used as a comparison between the Soviets and their invasion of Afghanistan which ended with their withdrawal.

Today, Vietnam is actually doing pretty well for itself after a few decades of languishing in relative poverty. It opened up its economy and began to seek normalized relations with other nations in the post-Cold War world. In some ways, it followed China's lead and has a thriving (if state controlled) economy that many companies around the world have invested in further accelerating their growth.