ABSTRACT
Normalization of relations was part of the US agenda, yet it was made unlikely because of the same Vietnamese intransigence that had made reaching a cease-fire agreement so tenuous and difficult. Until Saigon fell, normalizing relations with the communist regime in North Vietnam was considered a pragmatic move that made geostrategic sense. The geostrategic as well as the humanitarian case for normalizing relations with Vietnam is even stronger. Vietnam is rapidly becoming a land of beckoning opportunity. This is a reality that Japanese, Thai, overseas Chinese, and French leaders have clearly recognized and are cautiously exploiting. The US-Vietnamese negotiations surrounding the Missing in Action and emigration issues, the Cambodian conflict, and the partial lifting of the trade embargo have laid a solid foundation for exploring the resumption of diplomatic relations. Vietnamese officials think that the negotiations over the Missing in Action - Prisoners of War issue is a sideshow.
