Vietnam in ASEAN: International and Economic Transformation

Designing a new world order in the 21st century is an important objective for many academics, economists, and politicians. Under the guise of specialisation, only the countries, which have the potentiality to perform strong economically, will be able to face globalisation and claim some position in the world economy in the new millennium. Vietnam, which for many years had existed in the shadow of international economics and did not have a stable political and social situation, is one of the examples. Since 1975, the end of the war in Vietnam, the country has again become a visible player in the international arena. Several decades ago, the emerging nation moved into the category of fastgrowing middle-income countries. The globalisation of the world economy has created a whole new series of obstacles for states and national economies. Like any country, searching for its place in the international community and defining its role in world economic relations and world politics, Vietnam has to make important strategic and tactical decisions. However, not in the military sense, but rather for the creation of an environment for economic growth and building society where people are joyful and in peace “dân yên vui”1. In these circumstances, it is important to evaluate the capabilities of the principle players in the world globalisation process. This paper focuses on Vietnam in the context of its relations with the regional community Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).