Tag Archives: Vietnam

Japan is filling the vacuum created by the U.S.’s withdrawal from the region.

As China grows increasingly able to weaponize its financial clout for security purposes, failure on the part of the US to craft a comprehensive economic response undermines the autonomy of Southeast Asian countries and diminishes US influence.

ASEAN needs to balance the United States and China. The United States has come late in acknowledging the geo-strategic significance of the organization. Southeast Asian leaders have already had 18 summits with China and 17 with Japan.

Vietnam’s political leadership still depends on the outcome of ongoing power struggles in the lead up to the next party congress. The game seems now to be in Prime Minister Dung’s favor, but the final score will not be settled until the congress concludes in 2016.

With journalists increasingly part of the story they’re covering, the likes of Brian Williams are tempted to aggrandize in order to enhance their image.

Vietnam’s recent, and significant, investment in military hardware is aimed at coping with a changing strategic environment. But will it make any significant difference in balancing against China’s military might in the South China Sea?

The Law of the Sea is an unsatisfactory guide to referee quarrels that reside at the crossroads of disputed sovereignty claims and competing sovereign rights and jurisdiction claims. The rule of law in the contested semi-enclosed seas of Asia needs to be constructed on a foundation that is objective, fair and equitable, observes one analyst.