Biden recently announced that he’d be making a trip to Vietnam, which will likely occur in September when he visits other regional powers.
But what makes Vietnam such a valuable asset in the US portfolio of allies?
Is that the United States during what is sometimes called the new Cold War period of human history, which started with the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the election of Donald Trump in 2016?Saw American foreign policy takes a negative attitude towards China, notably the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The massive shift in American foreign policy from inaction to action against China and Russia is due to the winding down and ending of the American war on terror, predominantly the War in Afghanistan, from 2001 to 2021.
The American withdrawal from Afghanistan has enabled the USA to be flexible and reactive in its foreign policy due to the limitations of the American government dealing with more than one crisis.
This is partly due to the American effort to maintain alliances and support of Russia and Pakistan to maintain supply lines to NATO forces and the USA during its long campaign in the Middle East.
Due to the Vietnamese being a significant regional power and having a better demographic profile than others in the region and good geographical positioning, they make an ideal ally for the USA, and Vietnam has already thought of China in its brief Chinese Vietnam War of 1979.
However, Vietnam does have its problems due to geographic challenges.
The integration process and political unification following the Vietnam War, which lasted from 1955 to 1975, has been an ongoing endeavour.
At the same time, there’s no brushing past the ‘history’ that Vietnam and the US share that pales compared to their history with the Chinese, which is at least 2,000 years of conflict and border skirmishes that lasted from 1979 to 1991.If there’s one thing all the Vietnamese can agree on, they hate China.
But remember that the Vietnamese bring more than just a desire to crush the Chinese.
They would be a solid trade partner with strong demographics, a sound education system, and excellent relations with other regional allies.
Sounds like a damn good deal for the US.
The only sticking point is the Chinese-style political system that still exists in Vietnam, which means the United States of America and the Vietnamese can only be allies of convenience in the long term unless Vietnam social-political reform.