Editing Domino theory (section)

{{Short description|Cold War–era geopolitical theory on the spread of communism}}
{{About|the theory involving communist countries|the Weather Report album|Domino Theory (album)|the Steve Wariner song|The Domino Theory|the mechanics and logic concept|Domino effect}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
[[File:Domino theory.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Domino theory presents a metaphor of falling [[domino]]es: that a rise or fall in communist influence in a country will have the same knock-on effect in neighboring countries, and so on.]]
The '''domino theory''' is a [[geopolitical]] theory which posits that changes in the political structure of one country tend to spread to neighboring countries in a [[domino effect]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Leeson|first1=Peter T.|last2=Dean|first2=Andrea|title=The Democratic Domino Theory|journal=American Journal of Political Science|date=2009|volume=53|issue=3|pages=533–551|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00385.x}}</ref> It was prominent in the [[United States]] from the 1950s to the 1980s in the context of the [[Cold War]], suggesting that if one country in a region came under the influence of [[communism]], then the surrounding countries would follow. It was used by successive United States administrations during the [[Cold War]] as justification for [[Overseas interventions of the United States|American intervention]] around the world. [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] described the theory during a news conference on April 7, 1954, when referring to communism in [[Indochina]] as follows:

{{quote|Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.nps.gov/features/eise/jrranger/quotes2.htm |title=The Quotable Quotes of Dwight D. Eisenhower |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |date=December 5, 2013 |access-date=December 5, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130328071311/http://www.nps.gov/features/eise/jrranger/quotes2.htm |archive-date=2013-03-28 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}Moreover, Eisenhower's deep belief in the domino theory in Asia heightened the "perceived costs for the United States of pursuing [[multilateralism]]"<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Powerplay: The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia |last=Cha |first=Victor |date=2016 |pages=158}}</ref> because of multifaceted events including the "[[Chinese Communist Revolution|1949 victory of the Chinese Communist Party]], the June 1950 [[Operation Pokpoong|North Korean invasion]], [[First Taiwan Strait Crisis|the 1954 Quemoy offshore island crisis]], and the conflict in Indochina constituted a broad-based challenge not only for one or two countries, but for the entire Asian continent and Pacific."<ref name=":0" /> This connotes a strong magnetic force to give in to communist control, and aligns with the comment by General [[Douglas MacArthur]] that "victory is a strong magnet in the East."<ref>Extracts of Memorandum of Conversation by Mr. W. Averell Harriman, Special Assistant to the President, with General MacArthur in Tokyo, August 6 and 8, 1950, Top Secret, August 20, 1950, in FRUS, 1950, Vol. 7: Korea, p. 544.</ref>