Changing Worlds: Vietnam's Transition from Cold War to Globalization

Throughout the entire Cold War era, Vietnam served as a grim symbol of the ideological polarity that permeated international politics. But when the Cold War ended in 1989, Vietnam faced the difficult task of adjusting to a new world without the benefactors it had come to rely on. In Changing Worlds, David W. P. Elliott, who has spent the past half century studying modern Vietnam, chronicles the evolution of the Vietnamese state from the end of the Cold War to the present. When the communist regimes of Eastern Europe collapsed, so did Vietnam's model for analyzing and engaging with the outside world. Fearing that committing fully to globalization would lead to the collapse of its own system, the Vietnamese political elite at first resisted extensive engagement with the larger international community. Over the next decade, though, China's rapid economic growth and the success of the Asian "tiger economies," along with a complex realignment of regional and global international relations reshaped Vietnamese leaders' views. In 1995 Vietnam joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), its former adversary, and completed the normalization of relations with the United States. By 2000, Vietnam had "taken the plunge" and opted for greater participation in the global economic system. Vietnam finally joined the World Trade Organization in 2006.Elliott contends that Vietnam's political elite ultimately concluded that if the conservatives who opposed opening up to the outside world had triumphed, Vietnam would have been condemned to a permanent state of underdevelopment. Partial reform starting in the mid-1980s produced some success, but eventually the reformers' argument that Vietnam's economic potential could not be fully exploited in a highly competitive world unless it opted for deep integration into the rapidly globalizing world economy prevailed. Remarkably, deep integration occurred without Vietnam losing its unique political identity. It remains an authoritarian state, but offers far more breathing space to its citizens than in the pre-reform era. Far from being absorbed into a Western-inspired development model, globalization has reinforced Vietnam's distinctive identity rather than eradicating it. The market economy led to a revival of localism and familism which has challenged the capacity of the state to impose its preferences and maintain the wartime narrative of monolithic unity. Although it would be premature to talk of a genuine civil society, today's Vietnam is an increasingly pluralistic community. Drawing from a vast body of Vietnamese language sources, Changing Worlds is the definitive account of how this highly vulnerable Communist state remade itself amidst the challenges of the post-Cold War era.

Table of Contents:
Preface Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: On the Eve of Doi Moi Reform (1975-1986) Chapter Three: The Year of Living Dangerously (1989) Chapter Four: Changing Partners in a Changing World (1990-1991) Chapter Five: Way Reconciliation (1992-1995) Chapter Six: Uncertain Transition Chapter Seven: Taking the Plunge Chapter Eight: A Strategy for the 21st Century Chapter Nine: Rhetoric and Reality

About the Author :
David W. P. Elliott is H. Russell Smith Professor of Government and International Relations at Pomona College. Upon completion of a year of Vietnamese language training at the Defense Language Institute, Elliott served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1963-65. In 1965, he joined the Rand Corporation, and supervised part of its "Viet Cong Motivation and Morale Study" in Dinh Tuong province in the Mekong Delta until the end of 1967. During the course of graduate study at Cornell University, he returned to Vietnam to do research in 1971-72 and has returned to Vietnam nine times in the post 1975 period to do research, attend conferences, and participate in educational exchanges. Elliott was a participant in the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue sponsored by the Aspen Institute and organized by former Senator Dick Clark in the 1980s and early 1990s and accompanied Senator Clark to Vietnam in 1991 for meetings with leading Vietnamese figures.

Review :
"Essential reading to understand why and how Vietnam's political elite-forged by revolution, war, and Marxist ideology-altered their thinking and policies to make the dramatic shift to a market economy. An important book." --Richard A. Hunt, author of Pacification: The American Struggle for Vietnam¹s Hearts and Minds "Changing Worlds is a profound and eloquently written account of changes in Vietnamese elite thinking that led them to abandon communist ideology and 'take the plunge' into the currents of globalization. This work is enhanced by Elliott's command of Vietnamese sources." --Carlyle A. Thayer, Emeritus Professor, The University of New South Wales, Canberra "...We are fortunate to have this terrific volume." --Pacific Affairs