Part 3/9:
The Vietnam War had significant repercussions for both American military policy and foreign relations. In the 1970s, the military's credibility plummeted due to the shocking revelations of warfare brutality and the indisputable loss. The neoconservative ideology that emerged suggested that the answer to American decline was a shift back to militaristic policies. This perspective found traction in the Carter and Reagan administrations, where confrontation with the Soviet Union became a defining theme.