Vietnam’s Great Power Hedge

Mike and Jude are joined by Huong Le Thu, Deputy Director of the
Asia Program at the International Crisis Group. She is also
an Adjunct Fellow with the Southeast Asia Program at CSIS and
a former senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy
Institute. Her research on Vietnam’s defense and foreign
policy, Southeast Asia’s security, ASEAN regionalism, and
China-Southeast Asia relations has featured in a wide range of
publications.  The conversation begins with an overview of
Vietnam’s geostrategic landscape, exploring how
the strategic thinking of its political leaders has matured
over the recent years and months. Next, they describe
Vietnam’s recent attempts to leverage competition between
China and the United States to its advantage. They delve
into the drivers behind Vietnam’s recent decision to
upgrade its relationship with the United States to a comprehensive
strategic partnership and review areas in which
Chinese inroads in South and Southeast Asia may be
underappreciated in the West. They then explore the ways in
which Vietnam is adopting an omnidirectional foreign
policy, seeking to improve its resilience by
buttressing relations with as many partners as possible. Finally,
they discuss the evolving role Vietnam envisions for
ASEAN as it broadens its partnerships outside the
region.