Pham Thi Phuong Thao is a Senior Research Officer at the ASEAN Studies Centre, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
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Pham Thi Phuong Thao
Articles by Pham Thi Phuong Thao (8)
To Lam’s Foreign Policy Leadership in the “Era of National Rise”
Hoang Thi Ha|Pham Thi Phuong Thao
Since assuming power in August 2024, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam has pursued bold reforms with urgency. Economic diplomacy has been a central focus, aimed at mobilising international resources for economic restructuring and technological upgrading. He has also engaged Washington, traditional partners China and Russia, and other major powers with equal vigour, pursuing pragmatic multi-alignment to advance national interests.
From Defensive to Dynamic: Vietnam’s Thirty-Year Journey in ASEAN
Hoang Thi Ha|Pham Thi Phuong Thao
This Long Read reviews the historical significance of Vietnam’s ASEAN accession and examines how Vietnam’s approach to ASEAN has evolved in tandem with its national development, shifting security outlook, and institutional maturation over the past three decades.
Re-ordering the World: China’s Global South Focus versus the Ally-centric Approach of the US
Hoang Thi Ha|Pham Thi Phuong Thao
Institutional balancing has become a key strategy in US-China strategic competition, with both powers taking different approaches in leveraging their institutional networks to advance their strategic agenda. Southeast Asian countries have straddled both institutional realms advocated respectively by China and the US, while continuing to leverage ASEAN-led mechanisms to advance their interests.
Taiwan’s Economic Pivot Towards Southeast Asia: Bolstering Regional Support for Status Quo
Hoang Thi Ha|Pham Thi Phuong Thao
Taiwan is seeking to diversify its economy’s dependence on China towards a greater focus on Southeast Asia. This would yield benefits in more ways than one.
Japan and Southeast Asia Set to Co-Create an Interwoven Future
Hoang Thi Ha|Pham Thi Phuong Thao
Japan’s decades of cultivating relations with Southeast Asia have not only strengthened their diplomatic and economic ties but also deepened interpersonal and societal interactions, ultimately shifting postwar animosity towards Japan into a prevailing positive sentiment today.