Just over 41 years after Vietnam defeated the United States and its allies, the White House is moving to dispense with another vestige of Cold War-era policy in the service of emerging strategic needs . On May 23, while standing beneath a bust of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Washington would lift its longstanding ban on weapons sales or transfers to Vietnam. Vietnam is a singularly important party in the dispute over the South China Sea, so Washington is keen to help develop the country into a more robust check on China's maritime expansion. But lifting the ban will not drastically alter the security landscape in the region. Cost constraints and political divisions in Hanoi will curb Vietnam's appetite for advanced U.S. weaponry, and the country will continue to rely on its traditional military partners.