近年來越南戰爭研究出現四個新視角:越南視角、國際視角、跨國視角和記憶視角。這四個新視角表明,美國外交史學家充分意識到,要全面認識美國外交,就必須加強對美國對手歷史和文化的了解;他們越來越有意識地將美國外交史置于國際的、跨國的語境中描述,越來越自覺地克服"美國中心論"、"美國特殊論"、"美國例外論"的狹隘思維定式;他們力圖糾正傳統研究重高層決策、輕社會反應的不足,越南戰爭研究在社會史和文化史層面的擴展,是整個美國外交史學界近年來在擴大研究范圍和豐富研究方法方面不斷作出努力的一個縮影。

Four new perspectives have emerged in the study of the Vietnam War in recent years:the Vietnamese perspective,the international perspective,the cross-country perspective and the perspective of memory.American historians of foreign relations are well aware that if they wish to gain a comprehensive understanding of American foreign policy,they need to strengthen their understanding of their opponents’ history and culture.There is a growing consciousness that the history of American foreign relations must be placed in an international and cross-country context and that it is necessary to transcend the narrow stereotypes of "American centralism,""American uniqueness,"and "American exceptionalism."These scholars are endeavoring to address the shortcomings of traditional research that focused more on high-level decision-making rather than the responses of society.The broadening of Vietnam War research to include social and cultural history is a microcosm of the continuing efforts of the entire American community of historians of foreign relation to broaden the scope of their research and enriching their research methods in recent years.