Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. "A Long Country Inhabited by Lotus Eaters" : Washington Encounters Laos -- 2. "A Soft Buffer" : Laos in the Eisenhower Administration's Grand Strategy -- 3. "Help the Seemingly Unhelpable" : "Little America" and the U.S. Aid Program in Laos -- 4. "Foreigners Who Want to Enslave the Country" : American Neocolonialism, Lao Defiance -- 5. "Doctor Tom" and "Mister Pop" : American Icons in Laos -- 6. "Retarded Children" : Laos in the American Popular Imagination -- 7. "No Place to Fight a War" : Washington Backs Away from Laos -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Index.