Cooperation between the two governments — supported by efforts from civil society, including veterans organizations — has helped address the impacts of Agent Orange and unexploded ordnance and helped both sides identify the remains of missing personnel. Meanwhile, people to people exchanges, ranging from veterans exchanges to major initiatives like U.S. support to establish Fulbright University Vietnam, have fostered connectivity and built trust between our societies. Yet nearly 50 years following the end of the war, more work is needed to address its legacies; to more deeply connect our two countries; and to use the story of U.S.-Vietnam relations as evidence that peace is possible and practical.

This project aims to further advance reconciliation through people-to-people engagement; to build and sustain U.S. support for addressing the war’s legacies in the coming decades; and to highlight lessons from the U.S.-Vietnam experience that could apply elsewhere in the world. The Vietnam initiative includes public events, bilateral dialogues, publications, and videos produced by USIP and by partners in the U.S. and Vietnam.