In the midst of the dramatic social, political and economic transformation in Vietnam, Agent Orange remains a powerful legacy from the war that ended 35 years ago, said Charles Bailey, Ph.D. '82, speaking Nov. 9 in the Physical Sciences Building. Bailey, who earned his Ph.D. in agricultural economics, serves as director of the Aspen Institute's Agent Orange in Vietnam Program and was the Ford Foundation representative in Vietnam from 1997 to 2007.

While he was in Vietnam, Bailey said that Vietnam, emerging from the devastation of three wars, enjoyed economic growth, increased access to information and citizen participation, and deeper integration into the international community. Despite this promising future, however, the impact of the 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides sprayed by the U.S. military during the war -- delivered at more than 50 times the recommended concentration for killing weeds -- remains, he said. The chemical was used to defoliate jungles and rural lands to make jungles safer for American soldiers.

"An area the size of Massachusetts had been reduced to moonscape," Bailey said.

He noted that Agent Orange contained dioxin, an unintended byproduct of the manufacturing process but a a chemical dangerous to humans even in small concentrations.

"I saw the damaged landscapes, and I began to find out ... in addition to the countryside, there was an extensive and unknown human toll," Bailey said. Conditions associated with dioxin, like cancer, nerve disorders and birth defects, began to appear in American veterans and Vietnamese civilians soon after the violence ceased.

Returning to the United States in 2007, Bailey sought to end what he calls the unproductive "blame game" that prevented action for decades in the United States and Vietnam, and he helped to establish the Ford Foundation's Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin to address the lingering effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam. He now leads that initiative from the Aspen Institute.

Bailey and others at the Ford Foundation also instituted a "Track II Diplomacy" initiative to encourage dialogue between a small group of eminent individuals of both nations. Known as the U.S.- Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin, they produced a 10-year plan to mitigate the environmental and human costs of Agent Orange, combining environmental restoration, disability and reproductive health services and training for social workers and teachers, said Bailey.

While at the Ford Foundation, Bailey also funded journalists to report on the consequences of Agent Orange. The Vietnam Reporting Project informs Americans about contemporary Vietnam. For Bailey, "the big question has always been one of moving from ignorance and fear to knowledge and action."

These are only two examples of the contributions being made, he said: UN agencies, foreign governments, individuals and corporations have been volunteering or making donations. The need is great, said Bailey, but there is also "the possibility of bringing about really substantial change if you can find ways to channel really small sums of money to affected families; this can make a big difference."

Bailey's talk was sponsored by the Departments of Development Sociology and of Government, the Southeast Asia Program and the Polson Institute for Global Development.

Erica Rhodin '12 is a student writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.