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Winning the Vietnam War proved easier than winning the peace. Since 1975, the reunited country has faced the problem of how a poorer, planned economy in which state ownership and control could successfully absorb a more advanced, capitalist economy. In addition, the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War heralded a new age in Vietnam’s internal and external relations. Vietnam traces developments since the end of the Vietnam War, including recent economic reforms, the politics of the Communist Party, and the re-establishment of relations with the United States. It gives a comprehensive and informative overview of the current political and economic situation in Vietnam today.
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Vietnam The period since 1989 has seen massive changes in political and economic institutions across the communist world, not only as demonstrated by China’s rapidly growing economic and political power, but also in Vietnam where the model of concessions to free-market capitalism coupled with a one-party state has also been influential. This book provides an account of economic and political developments in Vietnam, focusing particularly on the period since the collapse of the Soviet empire in the years from 1989. The course and impact of the Vietnam War is discussed, and the book goes on to consider the challenges faced by Vietnam since 1975, as the reunited country faced the problem of how a poorer, planned economy in which state ownership and control dominated could successfully absorb more advanced, capitalist economic mechanisms. It also examines the politics of the Communist Party, the evolving pattern of Vietnam’s external relations, including the re-establishment of relations with the United States, and the effects of more recent episodes such as the Asian financial crisis, SARS and bird flu. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the current political and economic situation in Vietnam today, and is an important resource for all scholars interested in this country’s recent development. Ian Jeffries is Reader in Economics and member of the Centre of Russian and Eastern European Studies at the University of Wales Swansea. He is one of the foremost authorities on the post-communist world and has written extensively on communist and transitional economies. His publications include A Guide to the Socialist Economies (Routledge, 1990), Socialist Economies and the Transition to the Market (Routledge, 1993) and The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the TwentyFirst Century: The Baltic and European States in Transition (Routledge, 2004, the last of a five-volume series written by the author). Guides to economic and political developments in Asia 1 North Korea A guide to economic and political developments Ian Jeffries 2 Vietnam A guide to economic and political developments Ian Jeffries Vietnam A guide to economic and political developments Ian Jeffries First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2006 Ian Jeffries All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Britis