Vietnam's National Security Architecture
Abstract
In Vietnams policy discourse, the concept of national interests is sometimes used in distinction from the interests of particular social classes and sometimes in contrast to ideology. The discourse has witnessed in the decades following the Cold Wars end a steadily increasing emphasis on the national interest that implies that national interests should trump class interests and ideology if there is a conflict between them. This emphasis also gave rise to a broader sense of national interests understood as encompassing the needs for survival and development of the nation that are recognized and pursued by national leaders as the fundamental objectives of national policy. In this sense, national interests subsume ideological concerns and reflect the interests of both the ruling class and the nation at large. This chapter uses the term national interests in this broader sense. Key policy documents in Vietnam occasionally speak about the highest interests of the country. Throughout the reign of the Communist Party, these interests are identified as building socialism and defending the socialist Fatherland. In more specific terms, they include economic development, protection of the socialist state, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Entering the post-Cold War era, in July 1992, the Central Committee of Vietnams ruling Communist Party (VCP) passed two resolutions that set the guidelines for the countrys foreign and security policy in the following years. These resolutions stated, the highest and most sacred interests of our nation as well as our working class is to successfully build socialism in our country and firmly protect the socialist Fatherland, to protect our independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, to achieve rapid socio-economic development, and to make the people rich and the country strong.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 15, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1063872
Entities
People
- Alexander L. Vuving
Organizations
- Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies