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Vietnam’s Geographical Power in History and Geographic Strategic Considerations of Vietnam Today and in Coming Time

Received: 10 May 2022     Accepted: 26 May 2022     Published: 31 May 2022
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Abstract

Historically, Vietnam’s geographical power was more or less improved, partly due to the “Southward March” of the Vietnamese feudal government and the “Territorial Development” policy of the French colonialists. However, due to the low emphasis on private trade, limited foreign trade and more priority given to the mainland than to the sea, little investment in building technical infrastructure of the Vietnamese under the monarchy, the monopoly of foreign trade of the French colonial government as well as the country of Vietnam was always divided and warred, so the geographical potentials of Vietnam have not been properly exploited. From 1986 up to now, due to the renewal of geo-strategic awareness and actions, especially in proactive international integration, promoting investment in the development of sea and land infrastructure, the power of Vietnam’s geography is improving quite rapidly. However, geopolitical competition pressure from the East Sea (South China Sea) and Mekong Sub-region is increasing, particularly China’s ambition to monoplize the East Sea as well as the trend of gathering world forces on sides and axes, the decline of multilateralism and globalization due to strategic competition from major countries are creating great challenges for Vietnam's geographical power. In a new context, Vietnam can become a center for attracting foreign investment, a regional trade bridge, an “anchor” in security-defence in the Western Pacific-Indian Ocean. Conversely, Vietnam could become a geopolitical disaster because of its geographical and political sensitivities in the region. This largely depends on Vietnam's renewed efforts to expand its strategic space, both in geo-physical and cyberspace.

Published in Journal of Public Policy and Administration (Volume 6, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.jppa.20220602.14
Page(s) 85-93
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Vietnam, Geographic Power, Sea, Land and External Power

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    Tran Khanh. (2022). Vietnam’s Geographical Power in History and Geographic Strategic Considerations of Vietnam Today and in Coming Time. Journal of Public Policy and Administration, 6(2), 85-93. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20220602.14

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    Tran Khanh. Vietnam’s Geographical Power in History and Geographic Strategic Considerations of Vietnam Today and in Coming Time. J. Public Policy Adm. 2022, 6(2), 85-93. doi: 10.11648/j.jppa.20220602.14

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    AMA Style

    Tran Khanh. Vietnam’s Geographical Power in History and Geographic Strategic Considerations of Vietnam Today and in Coming Time. J Public Policy Adm. 2022;6(2):85-93. doi: 10.11648/j.jppa.20220602.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jppa.20220602.14,
      author = {Tran Khanh},
      title = {Vietnam’s Geographical Power in History and Geographic Strategic Considerations of Vietnam Today and in Coming Time},
      journal = {Journal of Public Policy and Administration},
      volume = {6},
      number = {2},
      pages = {85-93},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jppa.20220602.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20220602.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jppa.20220602.14},
      abstract = {Historically, Vietnam’s geographical power was more or less improved, partly due to the “Southward March” of the Vietnamese feudal government and the “Territorial Development” policy of the French colonialists. However, due to the low emphasis on private trade, limited foreign trade and more priority given to the mainland than to the sea, little investment in building technical infrastructure of the Vietnamese under the monarchy, the monopoly of foreign trade of the French colonial government as well as the country of Vietnam was always divided and warred, so the geographical potentials of Vietnam have not been properly exploited. From 1986 up to now, due to the renewal of geo-strategic awareness and actions, especially in proactive international integration, promoting investment in the development of sea and land infrastructure, the power of Vietnam’s geography is improving quite rapidly. However, geopolitical competition pressure from the East Sea (South China Sea) and Mekong Sub-region is increasing, particularly China’s ambition to monoplize the East Sea as well as the trend of gathering world forces on sides and axes, the decline of multilateralism and globalization due to strategic competition from major countries are creating great challenges for Vietnam's geographical power. In a new context, Vietnam can become a center for attracting foreign investment, a regional trade bridge, an “anchor” in security-defence in the Western Pacific-Indian Ocean. Conversely, Vietnam could become a geopolitical disaster because of its geographical and political sensitivities in the region. This largely depends on Vietnam's renewed efforts to expand its strategic space, both in geo-physical and cyberspace.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - Historically, Vietnam’s geographical power was more or less improved, partly due to the “Southward March” of the Vietnamese feudal government and the “Territorial Development” policy of the French colonialists. However, due to the low emphasis on private trade, limited foreign trade and more priority given to the mainland than to the sea, little investment in building technical infrastructure of the Vietnamese under the monarchy, the monopoly of foreign trade of the French colonial government as well as the country of Vietnam was always divided and warred, so the geographical potentials of Vietnam have not been properly exploited. From 1986 up to now, due to the renewal of geo-strategic awareness and actions, especially in proactive international integration, promoting investment in the development of sea and land infrastructure, the power of Vietnam’s geography is improving quite rapidly. However, geopolitical competition pressure from the East Sea (South China Sea) and Mekong Sub-region is increasing, particularly China’s ambition to monoplize the East Sea as well as the trend of gathering world forces on sides and axes, the decline of multilateralism and globalization due to strategic competition from major countries are creating great challenges for Vietnam's geographical power. In a new context, Vietnam can become a center for attracting foreign investment, a regional trade bridge, an “anchor” in security-defence in the Western Pacific-Indian Ocean. Conversely, Vietnam could become a geopolitical disaster because of its geographical and political sensitivities in the region. This largely depends on Vietnam's renewed efforts to expand its strategic space, both in geo-physical and cyberspace.
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Author Information
  • Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam

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