An Analysis Of The Rapid Development Of U.S.-Vietnam Relations Under The Obama Administration

Since President Barack Obama entered the White House in 2009 and commenced the new national grand strategy,"Rebalance to the Asia-Pacific," in 2011,America has tried to strengthen the relationship with its traditional allies as well as some new emerging nations in the Asia-Pacific region.Within this trend,one country,Vietnam,is noteworthy for its unique regional role.Not only is Vietnam a socialist country,but its northern half(North Vietnam)fought a bloody,decade-long war against America half a century ago.The two nations did not normalize relations until 1995,and they experienced a low level of cooperation during the 1990s and the first decade of the new century.Issues such as human rights and legacies of The Vietnam War long impeded the development of relations between them.However,the U.S.-Vietnam relationship improved rapidly under the Obama administration.To name a few key moments,America established a comprehensive partnership with Vietnam in 2013,and partly ended its lethal weapons embargo against Vietnam in 2014,which was the first time that America ever lifted such a ban towards a socialist country.In 2015,Nguyen Phu Trong,General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam,visited America to celebratethe 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between America and Vietnam,which was also a first in Vietnam's history.In response,President Obama visited Vietnam in May 2016 and lifted the remaining restrictions on arm sales to Vietnam,which marked another milestone in U.S.-Vietnam relations.Many researchers have focused on the U.S.-Vietnam relationship,but most of them failed to predict the surprising improvement in relations in the last few years.1 In their opinion,some key issues such as human rights and legacies of The Vietnam War should have postponed the pace of cooperation between these two countries.2 However,it seems that the current trend of improved relations between America and Vietnam are much stronger than many observers expected.Therefore,the causes and consequences of this quick transition(from strangers to close friends)deserves further research.Not only will such a study teach us more about the foreign policy of these two countries,but it will also add greatly to our understanding of the dynamic of international politics within this region.From the topic introduction above,it can be clearly seen that the rapid development of U.S.-Vietnam relations is an emerging issue in modern internationalrelations,and the achievements in recent years are far beyond many researchers'expectation.The Asia-Pacific is becoming the most dynamic region in the world,and the new development of U.S.-Vietnam relations will absolutely have an influence.As a result,a comprehensive analysis of U.S.-Vietnam relations is necessary for further understanding of this region.Although many researchers have already focused on this issue,there is still plenty of room for an original contribution.For instance,the impact of the latest developments between these two countries,such as fully lifted restrictions on arm sales,still deserves deeper analysis.Moreover,some new regional developments,such as China's strong determination to assert its sovereignty over the South China Sea by implementing a series of new and more assertive policies(including increased seizures of foreign fishing boats,warning Western energy companies not to work withVietnam,and establishing a new city in this region)may further affect U.S.-Vietnam relations.I will explore these regional developments and consider how they influence relations between the US,Vietnam,and other states.On the other hand,there are still some deficiencies that may exist in the thesis.For instance,because of language and internet openness issues,the bibliography includes few books or articles published by Vietnamese scholars.I will try to solve this problem by incorporating enough resources from America and China instead.Meanwhile,since America is experiencing a leadership transition and is welcoming a new President with no experience in foreign policy,American attitudes and policies toward its new friends in the Asia-Pacific Region may change a great deal.As a result,any suggestions about future progress in U.S.-Vietnam relations will be heavily speculative.The thesis is divided into three main sections which consist of six chapters.The first section is the introduction,which consists of three parts:thesis introduction,literature review,and historical background of U.S.-Vietnam relations.The second section is the main analysis section,in which I analyze the new developments of U.S.-Vietnam relations under the Obama Administration(2009-2016)from three main aspects:political and security relations,economic relations,and people-to-people ties.Lastly,in the conclusion,I briefly speculate on U.S.-Vietnam relations under the Trump Administration and add a final review and concluding thoughts.