ARTICLES

16 Jun 2025

Pulling Hanoi from the Pollution Precipice

Vinod Thomas

Hanoi’s air pollution crisis demands action in emission regulation, waste management, and climate mitigation.

22 Apr 2025

Vietnam Navigates Trump’s Trade Headwinds: Making Virtue Out of Necessity

Hoang Thi Ha

Vietnam has been navigating the potential trade headwinds from the second Trump administration with pragmatism and opportunism, aligning with Trump’s transactional approach. The focus has been on fostering corporate partnerships, framing Vietnam-US economic ties as win-win instead of virtue-signalling on free trade.

U.S.-Vietnam Relations Vietnam Vietnamese Economy Vietnamese Politics

22 Apr 2025

Vietnam’s New Revolution: Will Provincial Mergers Bring Disruptions or Opportunities?

Le Hong Hiep

If all goes well, Vietnam’s bold administrative reform to trim its local and provincial bureaucracy and governments could unleash more power in the country’s socioeconomic engines and secure its leader’s legacy. Teething problems can be expected, nonetheless.

Civil Society Vietnam Vietnamese Politics

4 Apr 2025

How Will Vietnam Deal With President Trump’s Shocking Tariffs?

Le Hong Hiep

Faced with 46 per cent US tariffs, Vietnam is unlikely to retaliate in kind. It is likely that Hanoi would avoid confrontation and lean on diplomacy instead.

Tariffs U.S.-Vietnam Relations Vietnam Vietnamese Politics

21 Feb 2025

Trump’s Aid Freeze Could Disrupt Progress in US-Vietnam Reconciliation

Phan Xuan Dung

Suspending USAID programmes risks undermining years of work building trust between the former enemies and helping victims of the Vietnam War.

U.S.-Vietnam Relations US Vietnam Vietnamese Politics

17 Feb 2025

To Lam’s Pragmatic Pitch to Vietnam’s Youth: Economic Prosperity, Political Control

Dien Nguyen An Luong

Compared to their Southeast Asian peers, Vietnamese youth are more economically optimistic but politically disengaged. These attitudes concur with pragmatism of the country’s top leader To Lam, which focuses on material prosperity while calibrating civic freedoms to regime imperatives.

Vietnam Vietnamese Demography Vietnamese Politics

31 Jan 2025

Vietnam’s Era of ‘National Rise’: Great Expectations

Phan Xuan Dung

To Lam, Vietnam’s General Secretary, intends to usher his country into a new period of “national rise”. But the accelerated nature of his goal will be challenging.

Vietnam Vietnam Elections Vietnamese Politics

6 Jan 2025

Will the “Chronic Disease” of Vietnam’s Private Banks Ever Be Treated?

Le Hong Hiep

Truong My Lan's death sentence for gross embezzlement sends a chilling warning, but Vietnam needs to address the banking sector’s root problems of cross-ownership and corrupt lending practices.

Vietnam Vietnamese Economy Vietnamese Politics

27 Dec 2024

2024 Top 10

Nguyen Phu Trong’s Incomplete Legacy in Vietnam

Le Hong Hiep|Nguyen Khac Giang

The steadfast leadership of Vietnam’s General Secretary has ironically created a potential leadership vacuum, as succession planning has not been one of his strong suits, unlike anti-corruption and other stellar achievements.

2024 Top 10 Vietnam Vietnamese Politics