Postgraduate Do Ngoc Thuy successfully defends her Ph.D. dissertation

On March 10, 2018, at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), postgraduate Do Ngoc Thuy successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation on the academy level in the major of International Relations, coded 62.31.02.06 entitled “Vietnam’s local authorities diplomacy in international integration era”, under the scientific supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ta Minh Tuan and Assoc.Prof.Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan.

The council highly valued the dissertation’s contributions since this was the first scientific work researching Vietnamese local authorities’ diplomacy. The dissertation provided basic definition which deeply studied the nature of local authorities in international relations, the formation process of activities, the local’s benefits on behalf of the driver of diplomacy, central and local relations in diplomacy.

Using a modern analytical method, the author discovered the commonalities between the world and Vietnam in terms of research approaches, general rules in the development of local diplomacy of Vietnam and the world or the dialectical relations between local diplomacy and international integration in Vietnam.

Besides, the dissertation surveyed the typical practical activities of Vietnam's local diplomacy on four main aspects: border security; external economic relations, friendly cooperation and sub-regional integration, thereby giving a valid assessment of the achievements and limitations of the local diplomacy. Closely connected with the general history of foreign affairs, the dissertation affirmed the great contributions of local foreign affairs to the country’s diplomacy. Based on the analysis of authentic information from localities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the author was able to explain the "current" issues such as uniform foreign management regulations, the completion of local foreign affairs functions, the requirement of proactive and active international integration and forecasting two prospects and four development trends of local diplomacy. The dissertation is a useful and valuable source for teaching, researching on foreign policy, international relations and the decision-makers, implementers of local foreign policies and strategies.

The ceremony took place in a formal atmosphere and in accordance with the regulations on doctoral training. The postgraduate presented the main research results of the dissertation and answered the questions from the Council. The Council concluded that Postgraduate Do Ngoc Thuy deserved the Ph.D. in International Relations with 7/7 votes passed, of which 5/7 excellent votes.

Interested readers can search for the full dissertation at the Library of the Diplomatic Academy and the National Library.