U.S. aid and uneven development in East Asia

This article discusses the divergent developmental outcomes among postwar South Korea, Taiwan, and South Vietnam. While U.S. aid has correctly been identified as a key factor in the rapid postwar development of South Korea and Taiwan, the failure of aid to establish strong institutions in South Vietnam calls for a closer analysis of how different historical and geopolitical factors explain the greater political stability and institutional capacity of South Korea and Taiwan. In particular, the legacies of Japanese colonialism are seen as having played a key role in establishing the strong developmental states of South Korea and Taiwan, while the postcolonial South Vietnamese state was more fragile. As such, there was greater political resistance to land reform in the latter, and large amounts of U.S. economic and military aid were unable to quell domestic insurgency and establish the basis for economic development.