Change or Continuity?

A NARRATIVE:
A northern force amasses huge power and support. It takes over the northern regions with little to no real military resistance. This northern force has a different ideology, a different world view, from the majority of the people in the country. The world watches on as people are given little opportunity to resist this northern pressure. As the northern force occupies new territory, it conducts propaganda campaigns to convince those it now controls that their world view is best - the only way! 

The northern force begins to threaten the security of the capital in the south. The government in the south was helped to take power in the past and has been supported by the most powerful country in the world. The Prime Minister of the government in the south represents the minority ethno-religious group/sect, which has caused sectarian violence and social disharmony for years. Other groups in the country, including this northern force, are resisting the government in the south and say that it does not represent the people as a whole, in other words, it has no legitimacy. Now, the most powerful nation in the world is asking the government in the south to listen to the people. However, the Prime Minister of the government in the south does not want to relinquish power, despite constant social pressure from within the country and the international community. The country is in the grips of a domestic crisis, and it could be argued that it has been caused in part by the past interference of the most powerful country in the world.

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? compare this to the story of South Vietnam under the governance of the Diem regime and the road to war in the years after 1956. 

However, the question now becomes, 'will President Obama learn from the past and take the US into another drawn-out war, as LBJ did during the Vietnam War?' (Historical Continuity) Or, 'Will President Obama learn from the past and find a non-military solution - not sending in US soldiers to fight a drawn-out war? If so, what might this look like?

Watch the clip below and give your ideas in response to the above questions in the comment section below :)