Kou Voravong
The political crisis caused by his assassination, barely two months after the Geneva Agreements which prepared to restore peace in Indochina, contributed to bring down the current neutralist government (pro-French) which was replaced by a progressive one (pro-American) in extremely tense atmosphere of the Cold War between Russia and the United States. From 1955 indeed, the political history of this small landlocked country fell trapped inexorably in the ideological confrontation between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union, annihilating any hope of national unification.
Kou Voravong
American intervention in Laos remained discreet and without any local influence until the Geneva Conference. On September 9, 1951, an agreement had been signed between Washington and the Royal Government for economic and, to a lesser extent, military support. Only a small number of Protestant missionaries and a project manager, accompanied by a few USIS and CIA's agents were settled in Vientiane, in 1953. But as the independence movement was led by the Communist Party, and Vietnam was geographically close to China and not far from North Korea, USA got interested in the conflict taking place in Indochina. To justify their intervention, the Americans referred to the "Domino theory" that if Vietnam fell into the hands of the Communists, neighboring countries would follow, earned by the contagion or assaulted by military forces from Hanoi. This shift would change radically forces East/West reports in whole Asia.