ANALYZING PLATOON: TECHNOLOGY, ETHICS, AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGES IN MODERN CONFLICT

ANALYZING PLATOON: TECHNOLOGY, ETHICS, AND INTERNATIONAL

SECURITY CHALLENGES IN MODERN CONFLICT

Arizona State University

POS 467: International Security

Summer 2024

ASU-Tempe

Abstract

This paper uses Platoon as an example of the study of international security with

reference to the Vietnam War. It does this in order to explore the elements of technological

innovation, strategic rivalry, and moral restriction throughout the process of forming modern-day

conflict. Placing the film in the context of Cold War proxy war dynamics, the paper will identify

the role of air mobility and chemical warfare to express more profound security issues when it

comes to credibility, deterrence, and power projection. The discussion does not stop at military

strategies on the battlefield and evaluates the opportunities of strengthening security issues on

the basis of high-tech military equipment, shifting the burden to ordinary citizens, and

complicating the chances of a stable future. Based on international security theory, the paper

discusses the shortcomings of technological superiority in the pursuit of political goals and the

contribution of ethical failures to weak strategic legitimacy. It also bridges the gap between the

Vietnam-era practices and modern-day conflicts and shows how weakening of norms, the

problem of arms control, and the absence of political control persist in determining security at

the global level. Incorporating film analysis with the study of international relations, this paper

argues that Platoon depicts the timeless, unsatisfactory trends in insecurity. It also shows how the

rivalry-based warfare can successfully lead to escalation and instability instead of a durable

peace.

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Table of Contents
Abstract................................................................................................................................2
Table of Contents.................................................................................................................3
Introduction..........................................................................................................................5
Security Dilemmas in Modern Warfare...........................................................................6
The Use of Technology, as a means of Increasing Mistrust........................................6
The weaknesses of the modern technology.................................................................7
Comparative Problems in War.........................................................................................8
The Long-term Consequence of the Technological Developments............................9
Realism and Self-Help in Conflict.................................................................................10
The Chaos in War and Survival.................................................................................10
The helicopters as symbols of freedom.....................................................................11
Technological dependency and self-help...................................................................12
Realism and Global Conflicts....................................................................................13
Psychological Toll of Technological Warfare...............................................................13
Mental Strain on Soldiers..........................................................................................13
Fear and Trauma in Platoon.......................................................................................14
A Comparison of Psychological Effects of War........................................................15
Long term consequence on Psychological Health.....................................................16
Ethics of Air Mobility Use............................................................................................18

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Air Superiority and Its Significance..........................................................................18
Benefits of Air superiority.........................................................................................19
The Air Mobility of Tactics in Platoon......................................................................20
Pucallpa-Ethical dilemmas in Air Mobility...............................................................20
The Ethical Concern Regarding Today’s Wars.........................................................21
Long Term Consequences of Gaining Air Dominance.............................................21
Chemical Warfare’s Tactical and Ethical Impact..........................................................22
Defoliation and Napalm in Warfare Strategy............................................................22
The social and the ethical consequences...................................................................23
Legacy and Global Influence.....................................................................................24
Recent examples and Implications............................................................................25
Vietnam as an International Security Crisis..................................................................26
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................28
References..........................................................................................................................30

Introduction

The most real picture of the Vietnam War was shown in the movie Platoon by Oliver

Stone which shows how war affects the human mind and how terrible war really is. The main

hero of this film is Chris Taylor, is a young American soldier serving in the Vietnam War.

Broderick and Hatori (2015) say other themes of the film include comradeship, ethical dilemmas,

and moral conflict among soldiers. It points out difficulties encountered by individual soldiers as

well as teams, among which the use of technology for strategic purposes in war is one. This also

assists the audience to understand the subject and the group anguish that constitutes the war, how

technology influenced conventional methods of fighting. Allison and Glick-Unterman (2022)

state that even though Platoon presents a compelling plot that moves its audience, the depicted

air mobility and chemical warfare are critical in transforming the present wars in many ways.

These aspects of the individual’s biography combined with the technological nature of the text

bring to mind what has become a rather complex notion of what a war is; therefore, the film is

very effective in illustrating the effects of the Vietnam War.

The Vietnamese War was also notable for such significant changes for the organization

of warfare including the use of helicopters and the toxic chemical agents, including Agent

Orange. These innovations were very helpful especially in formation and movement of troops,

transportation of troops from one region to another and creation of the thick forest to enable

identification of any approaching enemy. Helicopters become the representation for air mobility

and change the way of the warfare in term of the logistics and supply and giving a great strategic

advantages (Centeno, Enriquez, 2016).

Additionally, the application of chemical agents added the ethical and environmental

concerns to warfare as the effects became felt by more than the warrior on the frontline

(Broderick & Hatori, 2015). The Vietnam War therefore provides a good reference point in

understanding how developments in technology in the use of force improved the force

capabilities and at the same time raise the force multiplier of the human and environmental

disaster of war. When watching these developments in Platoon it is possible to see how

technology is used in the contemporary war and what moral consequences it brings.

The proposal of this work then is to focus on these two elements to examine how conflict

is shaped by air mobility and chemical warfare in the present. It was in Vietnam war that such

professional technologies were used in changing the warfare system and provided a platform for

advance warfare systems used in subsequent wars like the Gulf war and Counter insurgency

operations that are in existence in the present world (Allison & Glick-Unterman, 2022). The

movie also captures on how these advancements are relevant today to show how they are applied

in strategic decision making and ethical issues of the contemporary warfare (Kumar et al., 2023).

Through association of these features to what is current in conflict, Platoon establishes the cyclic

nature of new technology institutionalization and its impact. Such a connection gives rise to

another question concerning the nature of technological advancement in the further evolution of

the concept of war; and the effects of such advancement on the willingness to engage in war and

the public (Maurer, 2018). The analysis of the movie Platoon reveals the information which can

be applied to understand the application of the technical approach, moral and tactical principles

as the aspects of the past and the present war.

Thesis Statement: This paper examines Platoon as an example of international security

and highlights the impact of military technology, security dilemmas, and ethical limitations on

the decisions made during wartime. The account of Vietnam War is presented as a background,

while the study explains how the major use of hi-tech, chemical agents, and the division of

fighting causes can jeopardize the strategic security goals and bring the indefinite insecurity of

both states and civilians.

Security Dilemmas in Modern Warfare

The Use of Technology, as a means of Increasing Mistrust

Technological advancement has increased the level of adversity between state and state

and has provided a security disposition that most often times promotes ambiguity. During the

Vietnam War, the strategic combat environment was changed by airborne weapons, helicopters,

or chemical substances but the hostility was escalated since the elements posed a threat to

existence or survival (Davies & Davies, 2019). In Platoon which was released ten years earlier,

the helicopters’ ubiquity performs the act of embodying the power and vulnerability that comes

with integrated mechanized warfare. The same can be seen in the modern world, for example, the

use of drones in the Middle East, when new, sophisticated systems make traditional methods of

trust-building ineffective and conventional deterrence becomes impossible. Holz (2023) assert

that these developments place a great deal of pressure on states to spend a great deal for counter

technologies and this fuels conflict. These changes are perceived as threats, and due to such

perceptions, the enemies are eliminated before they can do any harm as the threats are acted on

(Mead, 2013).

According to the Platoon, the integration of high technology systems does not eliminate

conflict because the conflict produces circumstances where every accomplishment comes at the

expense of another.

Every time technology is introduced in the warfare processes, there is always a situation

of strategic uncertainty of the enemies’ motives and strength. In the Vietnam War, the air

mobility, and the reliance on chemicals led to new objectives that were unforeseen and therefore

created policies that made the soldier’s lack trust (Jeansonne & Luhrssen, 2014). In Platoon,

soldiers are often uncertain about enemy ambushes, while helicopters simultaneously provide

mobility and expose troops to danger. Similarly, the recent conflicts like drone warfare are as

unpredictable as the traditional warfare, operators are able to attack from the safe distance but at

the same time they are vulnerable to cyber threats and counter-drone systems (, 2014). It

indicates that any time there are new technologies, the traditional planning on war is altered and

that both scenarios involved are in transition. As depicted in the movie, the uncertainty of

technological warfare not only enhances the chances of war but also enhances the rate of

pressure on soldiers and commanders.

The weaknesses of the modern technology

In the same Platoon the helicopters, for instance, are depicted as being advantageous and

disadvantageous to the parties in a combat at the same time. Helicopters provided access never

seen before and conducted logistic support, but all or nothing mobility made them to be used as

bait and endangering troops (Sabin, 2015). In this regard, the situation resembles other problems

that American forces encountered during the Vietnam War, there is a common saying that

technology is a weapon does not mean it is victory. A comparison can be made with the present

use of drones that while providing great precision and low risk to the pilots, can be jammed and

hacked to be switched off (Rogers & Hill, 2014). The above depicted vulnerability shows the

danger that comes with reliance of technological aspect in war. The same technology that can

fortify forces can also weaken them in the sense that as opponents discover these weaknesses and

then use these technologies against the forces then technology compounds the forces’

vulnerability in the cycle of retribution.

The very systems that are developed due to advancement in technology create loopholes

that worsen the problem because the adversaries shift their attacks to the next level. In Platoon,

we see helicopters being destroyed and chemical defoliants used to show that SAS was capable

of coming up with countermeasures against new technologies being used by the enemy hence

escalating the war. Both movements are evident in the Vietnam War where the insurgent force

exploited the opponents’ weaknesses in strategies of U.S air mobility and chemical warfare

(Davies & Davies, 2019). Similar phenomenon can be observed in today’s conflicts where

drones came into use which resulted in counter-drone measures and distributed conflict (Holz,

2023). This is because technology made the people in platoon to be over confident leading to

wrong estimation of things. The sides continually seek new methods to gain strategic advantage.

This is not only on the battlefield but also off the battlefield where the conflict between the sides

escalates.

Comparative Problems in War

One cannot help but notice that the fears of security in Vietnam War have parallels in

today’s warfare with drone and other autonomous systems. From the two contexts the observer

can tell that use of technology in human society shifts the power relations and generates doubt in

the course of searching for order; Rogers & Hill (2014). Similarly, in the tape tracks of Platoon

air mobility is a tool that is no better than the use of drones in the contemporary conflicts which

has become the application of better equipment in order to get the job done and at the same time

cause fear and provoke response. New tendencies of battle with mAVs raise new problems

including psychological distancing and doubt of the operators concerning lethal consequences

for the civilians (Mead, 2013). Indeed, these similarities highlight the dynamism of security

dilemmas where invention and development of new technologies, as positive as these are, create

as many problems. Comparing such similarities, it is possible to note that lessons learned in the

Vietnam War are very useful when trying to identify the nature of current conflicts.

The effects of technology are not only during the fighting but also in the realization of

overall defense policies in the whole world and ideas of security. The representation of air

mobility and its consequences in Platoon reduces the analysis to trends concerning the part

played by contemporary technology in warfare and more specifically the ethical questions raised

by the use of technology on the war field. Technological strategies that have defined many of the

modern conflicts including the Vietnam War including such things as helicopters and chemical

warfare are different from previous conflicts in a number of ways because they brought new

issues to light with regards to the human and environmental costs of conflict. Drones are one of

the best examples of such technologies that have created new dimensions for precision and

efficiency, yet enhancing misconception and ethical concerns (Rogers Hill 2014). Therefore, it is

possible to state that the impact of these technologies on the formation of general Platoon’s art

conception is quite significant and long-term, which in its turn underlines the role in shaping the

character of operations having impact on stability of the world security. This dual nature of

technology highlights the need to balance effective implementation with ethical responsibility.

The Long-term Consequence of the Technological Developments

According to Rogers and Hill (2014), it is clear that technology has been a decisive factor

in what has shaped the possibilities and threats of the future for the security of the world and the

development of defense. The Vietnam war of Platoon showed the technological advancement in

the fight pattern by the use of air mobility and chemical weapons which made way to the future

wars. Similarly, the “chemical control” of territory through the spraying of areas with chemicals

like Agent Orange offered precisely the same set of strategic benefits and like the other options,

had a seriously negative impact on human bodies and the land. These advancements defined the

trends where power was centered on technology in the military but this came with cost what

(Rogers & Hill, 2014). Therefore, the modern version of drone, taking over its sharp practices of

precision and remotes, also has issues of mistrust and ethical concerns.

In the current warfare, drones are one of the most valuable tools of the appeal revealing

the dual nature of technological advancement. While these transform the threats to the operators,

they also enhance the threats of global instability and accept the concept of the unconventional

and cyber risks (Mead, 2013). This is the same way it was in the film Platoon; instead of

improving the conditions, factors like helicopters just prolonged the war.

According to Sabin (2015), it does not stop at the military, but affects the international

relations and development of weapons as countries try to outdo each other in technology. When

focusing on the general trends of these innovations, one can see that these trends are grounded in

the basic principles of war. Platoon sees the theme of military innovation as something that keeps

coming up with long-term effects both for the army and civilians. History of wars and present-

day wars reflect that technology alone is not enough if there are no political measures to control

its effects.

Realism and Self-Help in Conflict

The Chaos in War and Survival

War is simply anarchistic and this pose a situation whereby the powerful dominates over

the weak by manipulating the weak fellow or group as seen in Platoon. The moral and utilitarian

dilemmas of the soldiers are probably the most profound themes of the film meaning there is no

one to guide them at the top level in war (Bennett 2022). This is on the same par with realist

theories which posit there is no International Government and therefore states and in this case the

fighters are forced to act in their own self-interest. The characters of Platoon are on their guard

during this principle, which combines the reaction to the threat with the fact that unstructured

war takes its toll on the minds of soldiers (Eberwein, 2005). In many cases soldiers are required

to make decisions on the lives of others including their own within minutes.

Platoon also provides a tentative nature of the trust relations because the alliances shift by

the emerging threat and the intra-organizational rivalry. These are very much real and can be

used to describe life in a movie during the war because the usual constraints that are put in place

to ensure that people behave ethically can be totally forgotten by the war. Also, the image of

schizophrenia was depicted in the Platoon when the war’s psychological forces distorted and

intertwined between people and animals as well as described the people’s existence where there

is no law; anarchy. These dynamics mean that the relation that comes with anarchy is the relation

of struggle because there is no strong order and power is very often backed by the power of

violence or force.

It is not only relevant to a cinema form of depiction as more patterns of self-help emerge

from conflicts of history. In Vietnam, many times, an individual platoon was on its own with

only immediate leadership to turn to and the means of dealing with the warfare of the jungle

(Steed, 2009). Similarity can be made with the Afghanistan and Iraq where small units had to

deal with another concept of autonomy and ethical issues (Lewis, 2020). These similarities are

evidence of the fact that the struggling depicted in the movie Platoon is not only geographical in

nature, the movie shows events which are related to problems of military history. Platoon war is

depicted as chaotic and senseless and the survivability strategies are also depicted as chaotic and

the show the extent to which human agency can be taken in such a society. This also offers them

a useful way through which to consider how individuals and aggregates navigate through such

circumstances and as such the film is a tale of human triumph and multifaceted.

The helicopters as symbols of freedom

In the Platoon and in many other movies, helicopters will slowly evolve into powerful

and fragile emblems of freedom in the context of a conflict. He pointed out that the Vietnam war

brought a revolutionary change in the practices of the war through the ability of helicopters to

transport troops and supplies that would make them operationally independent (Pastor, 2012).

The depicted contrast is effective here in that the helicopters as a way of rescue, and at the same

time; as being threatened every day by the enemy. The fact that intelligence operates

independently of policy planning is an indication of the self-help theme associated with realism

that hold that strategic objectives can only be achieved using an actor’s resources (Fagan, 2017).

FC offers reference to the power of maneuver which is a capability of a soldier to move through

an area and avoid danger at the basic level of the conflict. But they also show that human needs

and desires are linked with some tool, because deprived of them one can die in certain

conditions. This two-faced sword shows that reliance on maneuvers in Technological invented

ion is weak as a defense against the threats in anarchistic warfare. Therefore, Platoon presents

different aspects of symbolism meaning that objects representing freedom contain the element of

vulnerability and threat.

The problem that has been observed as existing with helicopters also shows what can

happen in anarchy when employing automation. But such types of aircraft could attract the

enemy’s attacks because they were very effective in many missions that the United States of

America conducted during the Vietnam War (Steed, 2009). This targeting shows that there basic

rhythm of power build up through technology and technology counter with respect to the

adversary competency. At the movie, in other scenes of helicopter assault by the other side

demonstrates how much technology is vulnerable particularly in the war. It is seen that such

reliance bears out the contention of Realism, wherein power and autonomy are wanted as they

are challenged. That helicopters are a fragile lifeline shows that the basic interest in

technological usability remains a secondary issue and nevertheless does not exclude the more

rudimentary vulnerability. This is why it would be possible to consider Platoon as discussing

how the concept of the idea of autonomy, opened by technology, could be considered at the same

time as a future and as a problematic process. All these risks raise a question of how, with regard

to the concept of innovation changes the very essence of the war and how those who work with

such tools, can be precociously affected by it.

Technological dependency and self-help

The realism self-help is further enhanced in the real conflict like the gulf war and Ukraine

where technology is applied in developing the military strategies. The Gulf War therefore did

this by highlighting the importance of the control of air power much in the same way that other

technologies such as precision guided munitions provided strategic value and focus on building

of independent capabilities.

Similarly, in the ongoing war on Ukraine, drones and highly effective surveillance and

targeting technologies are cases of the commitment to technology even when they are massively

outmatched. According to Davis (2011), such examples are in accord with the advancements

depicted in Platoon; helicopters can be a technological approach to the issues concerning

mobility and resupply in a difficult space. It demonstrates that not only does the freedom that

comes with new kinds of independent abilities provided by technological equipment also change

the ratio and dynamic of war. This redefinition can often put both sides in a constant search of

how to go about getting a grip and, learning more about how their tools facilitate or frustrate this.

This application of technology brings to fore the realist axiom that the powerful

determines the extent of existence and if one is to exist then it has to adapt. In all historical and

contemporary conflict datasets, technology enables and constrains actors with the ability of

overwhelming force (Lewis, 2020). But such reliance also brings risks, as the weaknesses of

drones exposed to the electronic warfare and challenges of maintaining sophisticated systems in

hot spots (Sloggett, 2023). These vices are pointers to the war of the current technological

reliance in as much as power is important, so is the weakness and in as much as one is

autonomous, so is the dependence on others.

The agenda of the timely aspects of the self-help mechanisms and the involvement of

technology in the distinctiveness of King’s anarchy are important to discussed. According to

Bennett (2022), the movie poses certain questions on the significance of technology and the

audiences get the message that it is not the solution that is ideal but an ethical and social

condition in a constant state of change. Sloggett (2023) says helicopters are represented as means

to demand power, and as means to reveal fragility that makes the audience use the technologies

of the modern-day wars.

Realism and Global Conflicts

When it comes to platoon the realist themes not only encompass the Vietnam war but it

can be easily related to the contemporary wars like the Gulf War and Ukraine. According to

Lewis (2020), these conflicts show how processes of self-organization work as Technology

appears, underlining the dominance of Self-Government in an Anarcho-society. The gulf war

issue of air mobility and smart bomb depicted how much the advancement in technology had

given a new shape to the way of war by enabling coalitions to deliver knock out blows which are

characteristic of asymmetrical warfare at heart (Steed, 2009). The Ukraine war, however, shows

a much more distributed form of technological warfare whereby even the smaller countries can

beat their big counterparts using drones and cyber power (Sloggett, 2023). This means that

comparisons still apply in the analysis of the realistic theories in the strategic approach to

conflict in different eras.

These features can be seen in the use of helicopters in Platoon corresponds to these

trends, the focus being made on the exploitation of mobility and flexibility to achieve freedom.

Eberwein (2005) assert that regarding the depiction of helicopter imagery, the picture revealed

such aspects as psychological and organizational-chartered, which is directly linked to the

modernist discourse of the use of technology in warfare. In Platoon, the screen images are linked

with real combat conditions to illustrate how in anarchy technology is a both a tool and a

constraint. It is again clear as in the Gulf or Ukraine conflicts the sword of Empowerment and

vulnerability remains key; this means that the use of technology in Anarchic conditions is not a

purely beneficial or positive occurrence.

Davis (2011) assert that it is important to move further into this tension towards the

concepts of autonomy, and what they could perhaps imply in the present, and future societies

that are increasingly defined by technological progression. The movie provides at least some

basis for comparison as to how realism and self-help work in today’s conflicts, it all comes back

to survival and how technology has impacted the thinking and actions of strategists on the world

stage.

Psychological Toll of Technological Warfare

Mental Strain on Soldiers

Mental strain on soldiers has put a lot of pressure on the troops especially when using

high end devices in conflict zones meaning stress is high. In technologically intensive warfare, a

fighter has to handle a number of complex gadgets at crucial moments and this is a form of

psychological and emotional pressure (Sabin, 2015). This burden is most felt under technologies

such as drones or precision-guided munitions because every decision action can be the difference

between life or death. In Platoon, the threats of the airstrikes and being exposed to toxic

substances characterize the stress that is not only physical for life of a soldier but also

metaphysical. These are further compounded by the fact that the fog of technological warfare is

that often the soldiers cannot stop or even hinder technological threats from the other side (Mead,

2013). This is almost a replica of the present and the near past wars especially for the soldiers

and marines who are coerced to carry out missions against powerful enemies in the new wars

that include cyber and unmanned combat. However, the condition under which an employee is

likely to be under pressure when making ethical decisions in extreme conditions actually leads to

an increase in guilt and anxiety. Tasks performed in such environments reduce the probability of

ordinary people to develop severe psychological disorders including anxiety, depression, and

post-traumatic stress disorder in the course of their work (Holz, 2023).

This is not a psychological injury that is only reserved for warfare, and the soldiers also

develop psychological problems when they move from the war front and encounter new and

different forms of stress, which are technologically created. Almost all the veterans said that they

felt isolation and isolation from the society because they could not fit into the society after the

war according to Jeansonne and Luhrssen (2014). This struggle is intensified by ethical concerns

surrounding advanced military technology, particularly decisions that risk civilian casualties.

Ideally, such moral conflicts are real and therefore make veterans develop moral injures and fail

to fit into society. These are the dilemmas in platoon which are depicted especially through the

characters’ problem with morale as the war begins. This can be related to today’s drone operators

who, with very little physical risk in their line of duty, continue to experience stress in their work

Vailliant (2020) asserts that the social-psychological effects of technological warfare of the

present age are established, and the need for appropriate support structures for soldiers is

underlined. Analyzing these aspects Platoon provides an idea of the technology, ethic and

psychological aspects of the modern war.

Fear and Trauma in Platoon

From the movie Platoon the viewers are able to capture the gradient of fear and the

traumatic effects of the airstrikes and chemical drills on one side of the soldiers. What the movie

shows quite realistically is that the attacks are always present over the fighters and there is no

escape from them. This can be compared with the records of the Vietnam War where fighters

were adversely affected by aerial strikes which they still to date struggle to get over (Blyth et al.,

2015). Chemical warfare, and most specifically dangerous herbicides like Agent Orange, raised

these concerns to a much higher level since their operation was nearly imperceptible besides

causing even greater feelings of helplessness in soldiers. In this regard, in Platoon these elements

are demonstrated through the responses of the characters to chemical exposure in order to show

the immediate and the delayed effects of the use of the tactics. New threats and challenges that

soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan have faced are even more severe due to the development of

new technologies, and feelings of powerlessness (Mead, 2013).

The suffering resulting from the airstrikes and chemical warfare in Platoon is an imitation

of the suffering of other technologically enhanced wars. For instance, in the Gulf War, the same

feelings of powerlessness were attributed to the use of precision guided munitions. Vailliant

(2020) indicate that technological strategies of this sort could only lead to a situation whereby

the soldier was trying to establish the character of the terrain in which he found himself and the

inevitable civilian casualties that would be incurred. These psychological responses are then for

that reason augmented by physical implications of such tactics such as physical injuries,

destruction of the surrounding environment, and more significantly other adverse health effects.

In the Vietnam War, the troops who used AO suffered severe psychological and physiological

shock and gave signs of the effects even after the war (Sabin, 2015). The second discourse is

camaraderie complicated by these conditions as their fear and trauma that do not only destroy

interpersonal relationships but also exacerbate feelings of isolation. According to Sabin (2015),

because the film is primarily centered on the protagonists’ fear and trauma, it reveals impacts of

contemporary warfare tactics on people. It brings out the fact that the like experiences did not

only occur in the battle field and the affected continue to suffer from the impacts of the war even

after the war.

A Comparison of Psychological Effects of War

The symptoms described and felt by soldiers in the Vietnam War seem to be similar to

those of the soldiers in the current armed struggle. Holz (2023) says each of the contexts

involves the use of technologies that transform the nature of warfare and select new kinds of

stress and trauma. In this respect, the portrayal of psychological effect of aerial bombing and

exposure to chemicals in Platoon gives a face to how technological war is complex. All these

representations make sense in today’s context such as; drivers of drones are most likely to be

affected by what is called flight related psychological distress even though they sit comfortably

far away from the battlefield (Holz, 2023). This distance, while reducing physical contact, claims

a moral and psychological loss that is difficult to understand. It has also been discovered that

those who fly drones have indicators of PTSD because there is a gap between the mind and the

body in executing dangerous operations at a safe distance (Mead, 2013). This is the kind of

psychological effects of war and the implication is that the advancement of warfare technology

does not take away such effects from a war but only change them to different extent.

Vietnam Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is cited as one of the psychological features of

the warfare, which is not only an issue of the fighters, but people and ordinary spectators of the

modern armed conflicts. For example, when the weapons are brandished in Syria, the only role

the weapons play in the psychological state of civilian population is undesirable, people fear for

their lives (Sabin, 2015). As in Platoon, military and civilians are afraid of violence and

violence’s possibility in the future of war has a psychological effect on everyone. It also

discovers that conflict always has a cost, in terms of psychological time cost of conflict over

space and time, and inevitable people involved in these networks. That is why the movie terms

out how various sorts of fear, trauma, and ethical options are elicited in the context of war. Of

course, by making these comparisons, Platoon is commenting on what often is said about the

technological change in the wars but rarely in the war’s human loss. It is affirmed that the effect

of war on mental health has remained a constant and that therefore means that the approaches to

managing and treating the effects has remained the same.

Long term consequence on Psychological Health

Technological warfare can also be seen in past and current events because of impacts on

soldiers and civilians as the case of battle. Royal’s journey shows the DSM concepts of post-

modern warfare trauma and its effects which are airstrikes, chemical exposures that cause

chronic mental illness in the characters of Platoon. Proving heroes’ cohort, soldiers depicted in

the film suffer from psychological effects that do not fade when they return from the war since

they cannot change from their war role to civilian life.

In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the veterans have similar issues as depicted above and

most of the veterans are likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress

disorder according to Jeansonne and Luhrssen (2014). The new technologies in man and cyber

weapons systems, such as drone technology, have introduced new psychological factors due to

the effects that come with use of force by combatants (Holz, 2023). The moral injuries of modern

warfare are aggravated by the separation and depersonalization of the conduct of war that

enables suicide bombing.

The effect is wider with reference to human psychological health, not only of the

combatants, but also of the societies in which war is fought. For instance, in Syria chemical

warfare has been employed and has resulted in a psychological trauma to the civilians and they

are always in fear, and feel vulnerable (Sabin, 2015). These experiences have been depicted in

Platoon where the after effects of chemical are depicted to have both the acute and the chronic

outcomes. This also affects families and communities and therefore there is cycle of stress and

trauma which is very hard to break. To some extent, this is possible due to the fact that the film’s

examination of the major characters’ relationships focuses on these generically comparable

scenarios, thereby allowing for a consideration of ongoing trauma stemming from the

perpetuation of conflict. So the emphasis placed on trauma means that conflict psychology in

general should be of more interest to scholars and policymakers than it currently is, both for the

histories of conflicts as well as ongoing conflicts.

As this paper seeks to demonstrate the absence of the set of three areas of understandings

known as technology, ethics, and Mental Health in the portrayal of War, I shall endeavor as a

case the subject of combat in the motion picture called Platoon. To understand the problem of

how technology makes a difference, the author pays much attention to nationwide enhancement

of community mental health and required changes or accommodations to the service delivery

system for trauma related to combat.

Technological warfare will also have what psychologists are calling psychological

effects, not only on the soldiers, but on the society as a whole and its mental health. In Platoon,

the overall representation of effects of trauma of the soldiers represent the continuous buildup of

technological warfare including the airstrikes and effects of chemical warfare. It does so because

research carried out on veterans of the Vietnam War revealed that there was numerous

psychological sequel of the war such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and substance

abuse (Jeansonne & Luhrssen, 2014). Such individual suffering experiences are known to recur

at family level and within different communities and result in distress related cycles which are

evident even after the real war has ended. In the current wars such as Syrian and Iraqi wars,

drone and other unconventional weapons, soldiers and even civilians are still struggling with

mental health problems that may not have been diagnosed or treated, disability (Sabin, 2015).

The crisis impact also affects subsequent generations since the children of the warring era who

had experienced violence and thus become anxious, fearful, or have delayed psychomotor

development. These social consequences are a result of the technological war that is, the death

toll also increases with the advance in technological support for wars.

Psychological impacts are also an ethical concern because accountability of technologies

like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Chemical additives is not well defined. In many a case, the

physical distance that the new systems create allows the decision makers to dismiss or even

overlook the human consequences of their choices (Holz, 2023). While it is quite practical at the

tactical level, this disengagement only widens the psychological distance between the attacker

and the victim and does not prevent the same situations from being repeated over and over. The

relations in Platoon are quite evident sociopolitical with emphasis on the price paid for the

decisions made in the war. Citing these aspects, it enriches the picture of the issue area and

underlines the need for the comprehensive and ethical approach to the mental effects of the

modern warfare and against their negation or minimization.

Ethics of Air Mobility Use

Air Superiority and Its Significance

Watching the operations of air forces one can state that it is quite logical to say that air

mobility is one of the most important factors in the contemporary warfare; however, the impacts

of such operations and their impact on civilians and combatants should also be considered. Air

control is an element that has defined wars since world war II because it allows one side to

unleash its power projection, interdict the enemy and launch précised strikes (Allison & Glick-

Unterman, 2022). However, this dominance has been very costly because air campaigns are very

expensive to wage because they come with many unintended consequences. In Platoon, air

mobility is depicted as a strength or an advantage by use of helicopters to transport people and as

weapons. This fact that air power is used at intervals in the movie to depict the modern warfare

tactics also reveals the vulnerability of those that depend on it. Still some scenes depict the

normal UAVs on the rampage without any regard to civilian casualties which tend to show the

negative implication of using force in this way. These outcomes correspond with further

consideration of air power where the emphasis is not on the detail of objectives or their hierarchy

but on the efforts to secure operational achievement (Rogers & Hill, 2014).

Secondly, the continued demonstration of air supremacy creates cycles of violence for the

simple reason that affected communities cannot be allowed to engage in further violence. Ethical

issues of air superiority are not limited by combatants; civilians are the main victims of collateral

damage which create cycles of hatred and suspicion. This leads to such questions as, what are the

ethics of using military objectives to the detriment of human rights which are still the main topic

of the discussion on war?

Benefits of Air superiority

As the effects of air superiority it is also seen that the post traumatic effects on the

societies involved in the conflict are not neglected. They also found out that Britain’s bombing

raids and air strikes which were extensive created a lot of social problems and environmental

damage which was felt in the country for many years after the conflict (Centeno & Enriquez,

2016, pp.355). One, the destruction of habitats and ecosystems, long-time dynamics like trees in

forests, present a post-war physical impact that is permanent. Physical features on land which

include defoliated forests and unexploded ordnance have adverse effects on the environment and

people’s lives in aspects of food and shelter respectively. This reality is found in Platoon, the

place in which the characters are unable to handle the ethic and psychological aspects of the

choices made within the environment of the air operation.

Strategic studies of conflicts and particularly of air campaigns do not take into account

the human consequences meaning that survivors remain with various issues. A comparison can

be made with the use of informational precision strikes in counterterrorist operations that, despite

the results of the fight with the help of high technology, does not always distinguish between a

militant and a civilian (Maurer, 2018). These are other social vices like PTSD and lack of

confidence on external forces to compound the difficulties of post conflict reconstruction. Using

the concept of presenting the topic in a different way and depicting the advantages and

disadvantages of air mobility, Platoon makes a certain degree of thinking in military forces

fighting and the need to follow some ethical norms and rules to achieve some goals. This duality

of air power makes us coming face-to-face with profound question, which even in the sphere of

military cannot be left unanswered. It is better to have a sudden invention that support to control

the upcoming battle effectively or the capability to share the suffering of the wounded and the

fear of the dying?

The Air Mobility of Tactics in Platoon

With reference to such strategies as depiction in the movie “Platoon”, the approach seems

to offer a useful framework for making meaning out of the issues and consequently the entire

balance between air mobility and ethic gears. Helicopters are portrayed as tools for providing life

to soldiers, moving these troops around swiftly, evacuating the injured soldiers and even as

flying guns. These are some of the characteristics of the aircraft Since the operations of the

aircraft are diverse these are tactical benefits for use in the ever changing nature of a battle field.

Vietnam war where the terrain and enemy’s tactic of warfare posed a great deal of

challenge to conventional maneuvering and strategy (Broderick & Hatori, 2015). However, they

also show that the war was air power dependent and the people had overestimated the potential

of air power. Helicopters transportation also aims at the identifying of the risks that are

associated with air transport. Flights and crews were often in a very clear and often a life

threatening risk due to enemy or mechanical failure. At some point the enemy concentrated on

destroying these aircrafts thus leaving other armed forces defenseless despite the fact that they

rely on the aircrafts to survive. At the same time, it surprises me that helicopter can be an escape

and a weapon, it adds a feeling of chaos to the notion of entering and flying in it, gives one an

adrenaline rush. These challenges mimic bigger struggle in air mobility strategies to tackle the

normal and difficult issues that could interfere with ideal functioning when handling the basic

feature of risk or ethics issue.

Pucallpa-Ethical dilemmas in Air Mobility

Several of the ethical issues raised about air mobility are explored in the film particularly

with regard to The relevance and necessity of such acts can be questioned by the example of one

sequence when a helicopter assault takes place in a civilian zone. This has demonstrated that air-

based operations are favorable for the acceptance of the immorality of the war because the

identification of civilian casualties and military objectives becomes ambiguous. This portrayal

also bears out the historical realities of the Vietnam War, where air mobility tactics were most

often “military-civilian”, that is, they occupied a middle ground between the military and civilian

spheres (Centeno & Enriquez 2016). This aspect of the movie shows the ethico-military conflicts

between objectives and goals on the field and repercussions which was element used in Platoon

and was also used early on to illustrate discourses on the principles of air. All these controversies

can be clearly connected with the modern issues in which many of such debates are still applied,

thanks to how this film does not make such decisions.

According to Maurer (2018), the conflicts make the film a critical discursive space of the

wagon’s aerial mobility with the intent of provoking the audience to think about the fundamental

tenets of techno-culture warfare. The ethical questions being posed are therefore not only in

relation to the real warfare but extend to other areas such as; are there any ways through which

can nations be made to answer for the germ warfare that they for instance use on civilians.

The Ethical Concern Regarding Today’s Wars

Ethics of air mobility has been a contentious subject in the advancement of technology in

application especially precision air strikes and unmanned systems. The modern air power as

much as it has seen other improvements such as better precision, it has also brought in new

ethical dilemmas such as drone operations and other Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles systems. These

technologies that are commonly employed in counter terrorism actions facilitate the targeted

removal of high value targets, but at the same time they introduce issues of liability and

collateral damage (Rogers & Hill, 2014). Ethical disengagement arising from the physical

separation offered by unmanned systems therefore increases the chances of harm to the enemy

but also the innocent. Gulf war was the first time that bombing was used in large scale and it

showed us the great potential of bombing and the very high stake.

In subsequent conflicts the employment of air campaigns has proven effectiveness and

inefficiency of these strategies in creating sustainable stability. Similar issues can be seen today,

when the question of air mobility is still a hot topic in the context of the modern warfare

(Maurer, 2018). The questions that are raised in these debates are not at all unique to the theatre

of war but are rather cliché concerns of citizens and proper conduct in war. Through analyzing

the representation of tactics in Platoon it is possible to show that unlike the First Gulf War, air

mobility in modern warfare is not just a matter of technology, but also a matter of ethics. It will

thus be remembered that more is needed in terms of discussion on the general ethical status of air

power in determining the nature of modern war.

Long Term Consequences of Gaining Air Dominance

An offshoot of a conflict that has negative repercussions on society and geopolitics that

extends beyond the theatre of war are the strengths of air mobility in today’s world. In Platoon

the helicopters are used as an example, with the air force coming into the foreground as a

decisive element for achieving the local and general objectives. The role of air force may alter

the idea of the battle and may result in dependency on the technology for conducting such

battles. This shift has very significant consequences for the actual conduct of war as well as for

its presentation since air control sets the terms of reference for success and failure (Allison &

Glick-Unterman, 2022).

Similarly, it is postulated that reliance on air power indicators reveal some forms of

vulnerability especially at times when and where opponents have demonstrated ability to avoid

air strikes. The Vietnam war where the Americans very largely relied on air power to prosecute

the war as being a crucial component of the war did not afford the Americans a decisive victory

in spite of the perceived effectiveness of this kind of warfare. These useful lessons continue to be

learned in the present conflicts where air mobility is still a key pillar strategy and can be

expensive in terms of lives and politics (Centeno & Enriquez, 2016). It means that mental

pressure, which such situations cause among the soldiers and the civilians, is an additional factor

that contributes to achieving the advantage of air supremacy, issues which are not limited to the

warfare but are also present after the war.

The major and long term effect of air control is the effects on environment and

psychology of air operations. He explained the various consequences of air mobility and

chemical defoliation during the Vietnam War ongoing up to date in Vietnam (Kumar et al.,

2023). Modern and even contemporary forms of air campaigns do not produce a great level of

infrastructural and human casualty but they still raise concern regarding the appropriateness of

air power as a preferred approach to conflict management. These concerns are amplified in

Platoon through representation of the individual and group pain of air mobility whose part in the

war is presented in a more ambiguous manner. In his study of the consequences of the air power

domain Chyung-li Jcheng and seen in the film and dependent on historical narratives it is

important to critically evaluate the impact of military strategies on the form of the conflict as

well as its results and future developments.

Chemical Warfare’s Tactical and Ethical Impact

Defoliation and Napalm in Warfare Strategy

Some include chemical defoliants in employment of herbicides and the most famous

napalm in the Vietnam War to eliminate the vegetation cover to deny it to the enemy in Vietnam.

In Platoon the use of these chemical weapons is depicted practically through scenes that portray

effects of environmental destruction and human suffering in order to make a point that chemical

weapons are weapons and are therefore unlawful. To this end, there were chemicals such as the

Agent Orange used by the US military to denude the Viet Cong; instead it wreaked havoc on the

people and the landscape (Yamashita & Trinh, 2022). Such strategies are characteristic of

chemical warfare that has always implied the use of the sacrifices which give a temporary benefit

in the fight against the effects of chemical weapons. The damages extended beyond the freedom

offered to rampage through the landscapes and through various manifestations of the enemy. It

incarnated as well as disrupted the vegetation of agricultural and economic productivity and

poverty.

In the tragedy of napalm, those villages that were attacked were completely destroyed

and the survivors who tried to get back their belongings were not successful. Also, the users of

such equipment for instance the soldiers felt guilty and emotional breakdown; thus with such

pictures of consequence on both sides in the war, any person should reconsider a number of such

wars. Besides this, the effect of the war was not only felt throughout the Vietnamese physical

environment; the wartime influenced its physical environment in a way that some areas, even

after several years of the war, are still barren. In many ways Platoon demonstrates these effects

through the use of images to help people understand the consequences of ending such practices.

The effects of defoliants on the environment have remained disastrous and have affected

recovery because some parts of the world are still toxic today. Besides this, they also incited

people to hate the US and the war, of the war, all around the globe. Many historians are rather

sure that Chemical weapons has weakened moral legitimacy both on the internal and the

international level. According to Spencer (2022), the very discussion of their necessity is a

striking example of a continuum of the longstanding confrontation between the needs of

effective warfare and the principles of ethical warfare in the contemporary armed conflict. This

is how the excessive cruelty of these dynamics is revealed by Platoon, as the audience is brought

to understand what war cost is and ask the ethical issues of the war for strategic goals.

The social and the ethical consequences

The morality and environmental consequences of chemical warfare in Vietnam are

unremarkable and hence cannot be forgotten in the human record and war ethic discourse.

Chemical agents are depicted as a phenomenon of the war but also as sin, in which both civilians

and soldiers are dying in Platoon. This is real in the sense that through the use of Agent Orange

and napalm, the environment has been a big hit and millions have resulted in long-term diseases

(Latiff, 2022). Deforestation and the denudation of the Vietnamese farmland that has caused

environmental issues to the present are features of chemical warfare. They show that arguments

about such weapons being ethical to use because they offer a huge strategic advantage are

baseless (González, 2022). Chemical spill victims experienced changes in health throughout their

lifetime; they got sick with cancer, respiratory diseases, and children were born with birth

defects. That is, revenues and losses from Deforestation and damaged farmlands put most of the

communities in poverty cycles that were very difficult to overcome.

The Vietnamese higher officials have continued to enforce accountability and reparations

and have pointed out that the nations that involve themselves in the war must accept the

responsibility of trying to right the wrong that they have done. All over the globe these incidents

have defined the society’s perception on the conduct of war by raising questions on the right

approach to take when attacking structures that are inhabited by civilians for strategic reasons.

This is why the themes chosen for Platoon are rather bitter and help people to focus not only on

the victory and defeat on the battlefield. They give his experiences as the victims of the chemical

warfare credibility to the critique of the film and thus more poignant. The integration of the

suffering of the environment with the suffering of people in the particular, therefore, provides a

better reason as to why these weapons should be given more attention in the current warfare.

Legacy and Global Influence

The effect of chemical weapons on Vietnam and how this has influenced the international

fight against their use culminating to the Chemical Weapons Convention is discussed. In

Platoon, the moral vices that are connected with chemical tactics are depicted while the major

vices that were evident after Vietnam are contrary to this. The efficacy and the consequences of

the Agent Orange use and its effects on people’s health have raised social movements to

understand the multiple ramifications of chemicals on society. Yamashita and Trinh (2022) say

this process led to the formulation of general principles relating to prevention of further injury

which include the Chemical Weapons Convention. This treaty that almost every state has ratified

is acknowledgement by the international community that it is high time that civilized methods of

warfare are not used (Latiff, 2022). However, to some extent, control measures for chemical

weapons have been observed but there is still a problem of enforcement and application of the

current norms as the contemporary wars are characterized by occasional use of chemical

weapons.

The present manifestations of chemical warfare in Vietnam are a clear example of the

long term consequences of military actions which can be only weakly linked to the reduction of

ethical and humanitarian issues. Platoon illustrates this truth by portraying how these strategies

demoralized [recall] in commanders by their subordinates and locals. Thus, to underscore the

rather unproductive use of chemical weapons as a speedy and convenient way of a solution the

film depicts the situation as leading to further and sometimes ethical issues in the further future.

The lessons, strategic doctrines of the armed forces of different countries have shifted to a more

targeted and less lethal approach.

Slocum (2023) state that speaking of the consequences of such decisions, Platoon restates

the concept of the necessity of collaboration between the members of the international

community in the fight against negative consequences of war on people and the environment.

According to Latiff (2022), the writing presents the paradigms for approaching the architectures

that put pressure on nations to stick to the post-war treaties as a way of maintaining the theme of

ethical war reporting in the next wars.

Recent examples and Implications

In order not to shock their shareholders, managers of any company that wishes to issue

new shares in the future must make their financial statements known to the public and pathname

Limited’s management was not an exception. The use of chemical weapons in the current war

especially in Syria makes it extremely hard to apply non-chemical warfare standards and address

ethical questions. In the movie Platoon informational chemical weapons are depicted as causing

arbitrary damage that such weapons create and it is reminiscent of the Syrian Civil War. Such

attacks, often on civilians, help explain why chemical weapons remain a moral issue and why it

is hard to hold the perpetrators to account (Sciacovelli, 2022). The film Platoon along with

contemporary examples point out that technology frequently surpasses morality in a cyclic

world. According to Tarnas et al. (2022), chemical weapon usage in Syria has worsened the

humanitarian situation and displaced millions of people and is a tremendous strain on

international humanitarian organizations.

The problems of holding states accountable under international law, as illustrated by the

Chemical Weapons Convention, are by no means unique to this treaty as any initiative to enforce

an international agreement is always challenged by a complex geopolitical environment, such as

the dispute over the colonialism impact and position of the non-aligned countries. Then Platoon

connects these historical and modern day conflicts with the story to continue the fight and

portray people and the earth as victims of chemical warfare. This is depicted as the failure being

a continuation of the harm to the communities mentioned above therefore worsening the effects

of the problems within the cycles. These continuing discourse indicate that it is high time to

work harder for non-use of these weapons, whether through muscles power or cooperation

mechanism. According to Thornton (2023), by so doing, Platoon raises eye brows on the likely

consequences of neglecting ethical aspects as a student, tactician and a politician.

Vietnam as an International Security Crisis

The Vietnam War as it is depicted in Platoon can be better approached as an international

crisis of security due to the systemic rivalry than a military failure. Although the film narrative

focuses on the experiences of the ground, it has a wider strategic value when it is fitted within

the framework of the Cold War of the proxy warfare. The war is one of the spaces, where the

fighting power blocks tried to shape the perception of the people over the power, determination

and ideological dominance through indirect struggle. The Vietnam war is a perfect example of

how the local wars can be utilized as the tool that enables the global powers to ensure that the

world order is preserved. A depiction of the war on the systemic level is why the war was

dragging on indefinitely as the cost continued to increase and the results were still unpredictable.

Proxy wars are waged on a different rationale than conventional interstate conflict.

Instead of going on territorial rape or victorious domination, the big powers indulge in

unobtrusive warfare to influence the balance of power and avoid the feeling of strategic defeat.

The involvement of the U.S. in Vietnam was not mainly based on the significance of the land but

honored the pre-emption and the value of the reputation of the United States in the world system.

Communist victory in any case would be interpreted as a sign of the wavering of the will and

could motivate the powers who are testing new areas to go even further. According to Centeno

and Enriquez (2016), the perception is a manifestation of the overall pattern in international

security where reputational considerations distort and thus undermine strategic judgement,

eventually forcing states to engage in escalations of conflicts that are not even directed at

achieving the same purposes anymore. Platoon indirectly describes this dynamic by describing a

war that goes on as an internal fragmentation and strategic disintegration.

Credibility takes center stage in security studies and especially in places that are

associated with competition and unpredictability. Credibility was said to be indivisible during the

Cold War, where failure in any of the regions had been assumed to undermine deterrence in

other parts of the world. This postulation has aids in understanding why policymakers supported

the continued engagement in Vietnam despite the fact that effectiveness of the military was

dwindling. According to Allison and Glick-Unterman (2022), a great-power rivalry frequently

encourages one to take risks namely because leaders are afraid that lack of initiative will be seen

as weakness. Escalation is more of a reaction to the realities of the battlefield and more relates to

the perceived vulnerability of the system. Vietnam therefore explains that international security

competition may get states into conflict situations where survival seems riskier than retreat.

The dynamics of Alliance politics are one of the primary causes of the fact that some of

the conflicts become bigger than their strategic significance. The same concept is applied to

explain the proxy wars that are known to create disproportionate violence when compared to its

strategic value. The war can expand to an extent that it is perceived as a contest of will and,

therefore, compromise is not economical politically to make. Conversely, negotiated agreements

have been perceived as being illegitimate. One of the wars which continued due to this pattern is

the Vietnam war. This would not only have sent the wrong signal to the other alliances that they

were betrayed but it would also have sent the signal to the enemy that they have been tightened.

As Lewis (2020) notes, commitment perceptions to have a strong influence on security

cooperation, in particular with the allied states that strongly rely on external assurances. Vietnam

became a nominal battleground where the enlistment of alliance credibility became the key

criterion as opposed to the evaluation of the military plausibility or political viability. The

symbolic forces which accompany the interaction with alliance forces permit understanding the

long-term and mostly devastating characteristics of these wars in a better way.

Systemically, Vietnam also shows a potential of the weaknesses of military superiority as

a assureer of international security. According to Steed (2009), contemporary war often reveals

the disparity between political control and operational supremacy especially in wars that are

characterized by asymmetry and local opposition. It took the U.S. the overabundance of

resources to reach a stable security result, which indicated the disparity between the resources

and the end result. This result disproves the notions that technological or numerical superiority

leads to the success of a strategy. Vietnam War highlights the point that the use of security

mechanisms based on rivalry can accomplish the short term signaling objectives and create long

term instability.

Platoon adds to this realization, by showing war as being disjointed, self-contested, and in

tactical perplexity. Although the idea of international politics is not mentioned explicitly in the

movie, its depiction can be compared to the academic analysis of proxy warfare as the tool of

international militancy. Their lack of focus on clear goals and continuing violence are similar to

the structural strain of compelling states to wage war that they cannot decisively even victory in.

Vietnam presented through the prism so is not so much a failure of implementation but a

symptom of structural insecurity of the Cold War order.

In contemporary international security debates, Vietnam’s lessons resonate in discussions

of indirect conflict, credibility management, and escalation control. Modern proxy wars continue

to reflect similar dynamics, where great powers seek influence while avoiding direct

confrontation. Allison and Glick-Unterman (2022) emphasize that rivalry-driven conflicts remain

prone to miscalculation when symbolic stakes override strategic restraint. Placing Platoon in this

context, the movie offers a valuable lens for looking at the ways in which the imperatives of

international security not only initiate conflicts but also keep them going and make them more

complicated. Rather than narrating a single, isolated national catastrophe, Platoon reveals a

continuous airing of world insecurity where these developments are still at the heart of the world

system.

Conclusion

Air mobility and chemical weapons in Platoon in fact, one can get a very good and quite

understandable idea of many tactical advantages of air mobility and ethical problems of chemical

weapons in modern war. With this in mind, the film shows how the process of technological

advancement is a double-edged sword, for on the one hand helicopters seen as life savers and

chemical agents, weapons depict the positive side of warfare; on the other hand, they depict the

negative side. These elements are depicted to represent historical and ethical aspect of the

Vietnam War with special reference to the concern of the roles in combat and protection of non-

combatants and fighters.

Durable power relationships present in the contemporary international system are rooted

in war experiences such as air mobility and chemical warfare. Applied from the Chemical

Weapons Convention that was signed in 1993 up to present day trust in precise aerial bombings,

these technologies have become constitutive elements within current day security systems. Far

from being still a contemporary issue, Platoon puts into scene these issues to present how the

contemporary approach to conflict resolution has been informed and influenced by history.

According to Yamashita and Trinh (2022), these themes enlightened on the need for one

to be held accountable for their actions and actions to be checked by different authorities. The

international community should act as a single body in taming the destructive arising from

modern warfare. Platoon triggers a deep reflection on technological warfare by showing how

these methods affect people and nature. This work also serves the purpose of an historical epic,

which depicts the arrangement of the ethical action that informs the conflict of the contemporary

world. All these make the lessons in the Platoon production relevant in in intimating the

audiences on the right ethical use of equipment’s in conflicts (Slocum, 2023). In this regard, the

movie matures into a work of art that analyses the effects of the war of Vietnam more so as a

parable of the participation in war in the age of evolution.

The film, Platoon, is an international security case shaped by Cold War proxy rivalry

dynamics. The Vietnam War is presented as driven primarily by credibility, deterrence, and

alliance reassurance concerns. Engagement persisted because withdrawal appeared more

threatening to global security standing than continued escalation. The analysis demonstrates how

proxy conflicts externalize costs onto peripheral regions without producing durable political

stability. The film illustrates how rivalry-driven wars entrap states and weaken long-term

international security order.

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