A Political Settlement for Vietnam: The 1954 Geneva Conference and Its Current Implications
![handle is hein.journals/vajint8 and id is 14 raw text is: A Political Settlement for Vietnam: The 1954
Geneva Conference and Its Current
Implications
JOHN S. HANNON, JR.*
I. INTRODUCTION
Open warfare has ravaged the land of Vietnam for the better part
of the last quarter century. While the cast of characters has
changed somewhat, and the military developments appear more
prominent, the underlying political issues remain basic to the search
for a viable settlement of the tragic conflict.
The majority of the present combatants partipicated in at least
one previous attempt to settle the problems of Vietnam: the Geneva
Conference of 1954. Paradoxically enough, major combatants on both
sides of the conflict have stated that a return to the essentials of
these Agreements would bring peace to Vietnam. On the Communist
side, both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam' and the National
Liberation Front2 have called for strict implementation of the Ge-
neva Agreements. Anthony Eden, one of the Co-Chairmen of the
1954 Conference, has suggested that the Geneva precedents be fol-
lowed in any future peace negotiations, since the Communist powers
show a firm will to do so.3 The United States has similarly expressed
repeated interest in a return to the Agreements of 1954.4 And a re-
convening of the 1954 Geneva Conference lies at the very heart of
U.N. Secretary-General U Thant's peace proposals of March 14, 1967,
which the United States has openly accepted.5
Where both contending sides can point to these agreements as sup-
*University of Virginia Law School, Class of 1968.
1. During Soviet Premier Kosygin's visit to Hanoi, the two governments is-
sued a joint communique on February 11, 1965, calling on all participants
of the 1954 Geneva Conference to respect and correctly implement them.
RECENT EXCHANGES CONCERNING ATTEMPTS TO PROMOTE A NEGOTIATED
SETTLEMENT OF THE CONFLICT IN VIET-NAM, CMND. No. 2'756, at 18 (1965).
2. Liberation Radio, Mar. 23, 1965, National Liberation Front on U.S. Esca-
lation of War, in THE VIET-NAM READER 235 (M. Raskin & B. Fall eds.
1965).
3. A. EDEN, TOWARD PEACE IN INDOCHINA 4 (1966).
4. The United States summary of the elements necessary for an honorable
peace, the Fourteen Points, begin with the statement The Geneva agree-
ments of 1954 and 1962 are an adequate basis for peace in southeast Asia.
Hearings on S. 2793 Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,
89th Cong., 2d Sess., pt. 1, at 573 [hereinafter cited as Vietnam Hearings].
5. Washington Post, Mar. 29, 1967, at A-1, col. 7.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/vajint8&div=9&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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A Political Settlement for Vietnam: The 1954 Geneva Conference and Its Current Implications
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