in order to compensate for the loss of prestige the West had suffered due to the communist victory in northern Vietnam, the United States would rededicate itself to shoring up military and economic ties to Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam too would come under the American umbrella. A new regional security treaty, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, would pull Asian states into a military alliance backed by American power.
