The 20
th century saw several political and military conflicts.
Starting from the First World War, it's more than sufficient to
state that in contrary to several views passed down by political
historians and thinkers that the last century witnessed far less
warzones and human death toll, a school of other thinkers
state it otherwise. The 20
th century can, at its most, be
thought of as a century of long lasting political conflicts, which
combined with the doctrines of modern warfare, took a greater
death toll than can be imagined anytime before. The history of
civilisation is filled up with wars that have shaped the human
civilisation itself; some have been large scale while others might
get forgotten.
 
And most conflicts remain at the heart of human civilisation as
a testament of the repercussions they cause and the legacy
they left behind. Behind all the accords and international codes
that we see in our times and the ones that regulate
international affairs, their formation and birth are themselves a
legacy of conflicts that humankind has endured so far, and has
never forgotten. As the old and trusted saying goes, "If you
wish peace, then prepare for war" is a proverb that applies to
one's personal lives in the same manner as it applies to a
political conflict. And without any of it, achieving peace would
simply be unachievable.
 
One such conflict that raged on for more than 15 years was
the infamous Vietnam War, fought between 1955 and formally
ending in 1975. It was this war that would shape southeast
Asia for decades to come and would also be remembered by
the atrocities and the number of casualties reported so far.
Some of the events that happened during Vietnam War still
remain a mystery and a case of 1,610 missing US soldiers still
remains an unresolved case. They were either left behind or
for the dead, nobody really knows. Some even might have
stayed back at Vietnam, getting adopted in South Vietnamese
families; nobody formally knows about the thousands of events
that have been categorised as unresolved. Vietnam War is yet
another event that has shaped our civilisation further, and
provided us with means to maintain peace even during a
political grind. We shall in this book, understand about this
not-to-be-forgotten international war and the influence and
legacy it has left behind in the international sphere, not just in
southeast Asia but spanning the whole globe, and how it
shapes our lives today.