Vietnam’s Water Diplomacy In The Lower Mekong River Basin Since The 21st Century

Water is one of the scarce resources.At present,the contradictions and conflicts of water resources caused by it are gradually intensifying.Under this background,the development of cross-border water resources among countries is far more vigorous than before,and bilateral and multilateral cooperation and conflicts in the development and utilization of water resources are constantly staged.Diplomacy has become an important way for a country to safeguard national water security and promote the development and utilization of water resources by peaceful means,and the research related to it has also become one of the hot spots of international relations research.Vietnam is one of the most important countries in the lower Mekong River,and it is highly dependent on the Mekong River for water resources supply.This paper takes Vietnam’s water diplomacy in the Mekong River Basin as the main research object since the 21 st century.First,it sorts out the internal and external environment that Vietnam faces when implementing water diplomacy,and clarifies the relationship between the Mekong River water resources and Vietnam’s national interests.It points that the water resources in the Mekong River Basin are related to Vietnam’s national security and political and economic interests.Then,the author discusses Vietnam’s water diplomacy policy in the Mekong River Basin whose water diplomacy practices in the mainstream and tributaries of the Mekong River.On this basis,the author defines the main body,promotion channels and fields of Vietnam’s water diplomacy,and extracts the characteristics and effects of Vietnam’s water diplomacy according to the above policies and practices.Finally,the author points out many restrictive factors of Vietnam’s water diplomacy,analyzes the development trend of Vietnam’s water diplomacy,and puts forward some enlightenments to China’s water diplomacy in Mekong River Basin.This paper insists that the deep consideration of geopolitics,power security and economic development is behind Vietnam’s water diplomacy,and its main purpose is to ensure Vietnam’s national security,economic development and water resources security.However,due to the intervention of foreign powers and the weak institutionalization of the Mekong River Commission,the lack of political mutual trust between Vietnam and the countries in the same basin,the imperfection of Vietnam’s water diplomacy system and the limited financial and technical strength of its water diplomacy subjects,it is difficult for Vietnam’s water diplomacy to achieve its expected goal in a short time.