Challenges into Opportunities: The Blossoming of Vietnam’s Multidirectional Foreign Policy at the 13th CPV Congress

The 13th Party Congress represents 30 years since Vietnam embarked on a multidirectional foreign policy. This foreign policy is centered upon diversification, multilateralization, and continued integration into the international economy. To achieve these aims, Vietnam utilizes strategic and comprehensive partnerships, free-trade agreements, and multilateral forums such as ASEAN and the UN. This foreign policy has helped Vietnam achieve rapid economic development, gain a high amount of security without compromising its autonomy or independence, and seen it play a more proactive role on the international stage. The 13th Party Congress saw a continuation of this foreign policy with an added emphasis on comprehensive diplomacy. This study explores the intervening years to the congress, arguing that multidirectionalism has helped Vietnam manage the turbulence of increased big-power tensions, anti-globalization, anti-multilateralization, and China’s belligerence in the South China Sea. Furthermore, a proactive, multi-pronged diplomatic initiative in the years after the 12th Party Congress turned many of these challenges into opportunities, allowing Vietnam to further its national interests. As a result, these initiatives have now blossomed into a comprehensive diplomatic strategy at the 13th Party Congress, adding another mechanism to Vietnam’s foreign policy arsenal.

Vietnam foreign policy, multidirectionalism, 13th Party Congress, Vietnamese CommunistParty, strategic partnerships, Free Trade Agreements, multilateralism