Listen in on many of the foreign policy discussions about Vietnam that take place at think tanks and government seminars in Washington, D.C., and you'll hear this sense of optimism that "Hanoi is on our side." They see Vietnam's historical suspicions of China and the country's ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea as key indicators that Hanoi will eventually join a U.S.-led coalition to counter China.

Those presumptions, however, are wrong, according to Khang Vu, a leading Vietnamese political scientist and visiting scholar at Boston College. Khang joins Eric to explain why the U.S. is overestimating its military and trade leverage with Vietnam.

SHOW NOTES:

The Diplomat: Why Vietnam Will Not Balance Against China by Khang Vu
The Diplomat: Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Change the Trajectory of Vietnam’s Foreign Policy by Khang Vu
The Diplomat: With China Visit, Vietnam’s To Lam Reinforces Bilateral Political Trust by Khang Vu

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat

JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Décentralisation / Législatives en Moldavie / Réalisateur iranien Jafar Panahi / Condamnation de Nicolas Sarkozy

Les Matins de France Culture

Enjeux géostratégiques des élections moldaves

The AI-powered Podcast Player