VIETNAM AS AN EMERGING MIDDLE POWERTOWARDS 2030 AND BEYOND

Some recent studies suggest the idea that Vietnam is a potential candidate for the middle power status. The notion is based on the fact that the country has travelled a long way from isolation to regional integration to being an active, responsible member of the international community. The possibility for Vietnam to become a middle power has increasingly proven a topic of interest for scholars and policy-makers. This article is an attempt to elucidate three key aspects of that possibility, namely Vietnam’s capacity, international behaviour and identity. Using a theoretical framework and set of empirical evidences that are structured around those three aspects, this article hypothesizes that Vietnam will meet the basic criteria of a middle power in the next decade and thus should adjust its foreign policy accordingly.

DOI: 10.24411/2618-9453-2019-10023

Dr. Le Dinh Tinh is Director General, Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), Hanoi.

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