The once-discredited hypothesis might be proving true – againThose who lived through the horrors of the Vietnam War will remember the justification for American involvement in a conflict on the other side of the world. It was called the domino theory, based on the notion that communism in one country would trigger a chain reaction, toppling neighboring nations like dominoes. And while the theory has largely been discredited because it is so closely associated with a lost war Americans would rather forget, it is not without logic or merit. In fact, the domino theorists were eventually proven right after the US quit the war, as South Vietnam was swallowed up by North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos also went Communist, and Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines normalized ties with Communist China. History is replete with events of great magnitude in one country that, for better or worse, spilled over into other nations and regions. So, since Venezuela has fallen, Iran is falling, and Cuba may well be next, let’s consider whether a less regional and more global application of the domino theory could be in play right now.
