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18 PEACE IN VIETNAM neutralist government that he bad been trying for so long to estab- lish, from 1956 to 1958 it had openly undertaken to subvert and topple his government by supporting the right-wing factions under General Phoumi Nosovan. The Thai government, which joined the United States in backing Phoumi Nosovan, has continued to oppose the establishment of a neutralist Laos. This has not made Souvanna Phouma’s subsequent efforts any easier. Whatever the settlement in Vietnam, the several ethnic components of Laos are likely to gravitate in the same directions they did prior to their artificial administrative unification by France. Clearly the force of nationalism in the countries of Southeast Asia does not justify any simple “domino-theory” approach in United States policy toward that area. The power of this national- ism will remain the watchful guardian of political independence, poised against any hint of outside jnterference—whether from China or the United States. As long as Southeast Asian govern- ments are in harmony with their countries’ nationalism and so long as they prove capable, wise, and strong enough to institute ihe basic reforms necessary to meet the most pressing socioeco- nomic demands of their peoples, indigenous Communist leaders are likely to encounter litile success, How well is the United States relating to these demands for social revolution and thereby contributing to the security and sta- bility of the newly emerging nations of Southeast Asia?