Book excerpt: An examination of the policy of the US Administration of Jimmy Carter towards Vietnam between 1977 and 1980. The book focuses on the attempt of the Carter Administration to normalise relations with Vietnam and the reasons for the failure of that effort. Using a belief systems approach to explain the policy choices of key decision-makers the book presents a new explanation of the policy in question and of the decision to abandon the attempt to normalise relations at the end of 1978.