The Risk of Vietnam’s Local Leadership Carousel
Nguyen Khac Giang|Le Hong Hiep
Vietnam’s efforts to eradicate ‘localism’ have created side effects which might undermine proper governance.

Nguyen Khac Giang|Le Hong Hiep
Vietnam’s efforts to eradicate ‘localism’ have created side effects which might undermine proper governance.
Marco Kamiya
Urbanisation in Southeast Asia is now one of the region’s most powerful yet under-recognised industrial policy tools. Urban planners and economists need to work together to unlock the potential of the region’s cities.
Dien Nguyen An Luong
The unusual turn taken in a social media page run by a Vietnamese police anti-drug unit shows how controlling the conversation through humour can be a useful weapon.
Nguyen Khac Giang
Domestic factors seem to impel Vietnam’s top politician as he jetsets around the world, ahead of an all-important Party congress.
Le Hong Hiep
In Vietnam, an impasse over feed-in-tariffs for renewable energy producers threatens foreign investors’ confidence in government policies
Le Hong Hiep
Vietnam’s uppermost echelon of political leadership is likely to remain structurally unchanged for various reasons.
Tuan Ho
Vietnam wants to stabilise the exchange rate amid devaluation pressure, while keeping interest rates low for economic growth. The country should be clear and prudent in balancing growth and macro stability.
Phan Xuan Dung
Vietnam has stepped up efforts to broaden and deepen memory alliances, enabling its multidirectional foreign policy amid intensifying geopolitical tensions and competing blocs.
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.
Nguyen Khac Giang
Few had expected To Lam, Vietnam’s top leader, to rebuild the same institutions that he had dismantled.