What Was The Domino Theory?

The domino theory was the view that if an adversary, usually the Soviet Union or Communism in general, was allowed to prevail in one strategically important area, it would lead to a ripple effect, like a line of dominoes falling - each knocking the other down, which would cause it to ultimately prevail in other areas too. It is a view that has often been expressed by American geo-political strategists but is most commonly associated with the era of the Vietnam war. In the end, of course, the Communist side did prevail in the Vietnam war and yet the dominoes did not fall : no rippling tide of Communism swept across all of Asia.

Echoes of the domino theory are often heard today from American politicians who support the war in Iraq when they express the view that "We're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here."