Vietnam Studies

Vietnam is a major Southeast Asian country of considerable strategic, political, and economic importance. It has a population of about 90 million and is a significant factor in the geopolitics of both continental and maritime Southeast Asia, the latter because of its claims in the South China Sea. It is an important and active member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Vietnam Study Group works on critical issues relating to Vietnam’s internal situation: political economy; internal political and leadership dynamics which affect domestic and foreign policies; mass organisations and social change; and socio-cultural issues, including Vietnamese ground sentiments on, and perceptions of, China and Vietnam-China relations. The Group also works on Vietnam’s relations with the major powers, and its role in ASEAN.

Programme Coordinator

The Coordinator of the Vietnam Studies Programme is Dr Le Hong Hiep. Please contact him for further information on the Vietnam Studies Programme.

Current Researchers

Past Affiliates

ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute has a long history of hosting researchers and scholars who work on Vietnam. Among those previously affiliated with the Institute are the following:

Dr Russell Heng Hiang Khng Mrs Nguyen Kim Anh
Dr David Koh Wee Hock Mr Le Xuan Sang
Mr Nguyen Nam Duong Dr Yul Kwon
Dr Nick Freeman Dr Carolyn L. Gates
Mr Phan Le Minh Dr Nguyen Hong Thach
Dr Hoang Anh Tuan Dr Jason Morris-Jung
Dr Huong Le Thu Dr Ngo Vinh Long
Dr Hun Kee Kim Mr Daljit Singh
Dr Hoang Thi Tuan Oanh Dr Teo Ee Leong Victor
Mr Lye Liang Fook Dr Ivan Victor Small
Mr Chong Zhi Quan Joel Dr Joseph Buckley
Dr Ha Hoang Hop Ms Tran Thi Bich

Seminars

For upcoming seminars, please refer to the events section of the main ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute website. Our past seminars include:

  • Dr Le Dang Doanh, “Vietnam Joining the TPP and FTA with the EU: Benefits and Challenges,” 11th June 2015.
  • Dr Thomas Jandl, “What Developing Countries Can Learn from Vietnam, and What Vietnam Needs to Learn from its Own Development Path?” 29th April 2015.
  • Dr Le Hong Hiep, “Vietnam’s Alliance Politics in the South China Sea,” 27th March 2015.
  • Dr Thaveeporn Vasavakul, “Recrafting the State: Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption in Vietnam,” 13th February 2015.
  • Dr Tran Thi Lien, “Catholics in Vietnam: National Identity and the Making of a Religious Minority,” 22nd August 2014.
  • Dr Ian Storey, Dr Jason Morris-Jung, Dr Huong Le Thu, Dr Zhao Hong, “The Implications of the Vietnam-China Crisis on the South China Sea,” 3rd June 2014.
  • Professor Peter Zinoman, “Vietnamese Colonial Republican: The Political Vision of Vu Trong Phung,” 23rd May 2014.
  • Dr Huong Le Thu, “Trafficking in Persons in Vietnam: Responding to the Human Security Threat,” 22nd January 2014.
  • Professor Sorn Samnang, “The Preah Vihear Temple Case – What Happens Now?” 4th December 2013.
  • Professor Ngo Vinh Long, “The (Existential) Challenges Facing the Party-State of Vietnam: How will it cope?” 14th Aug 2013.
  • Mr. Le Hong Hiep, “The economic determinants of Vietnam’s South China Sea Dispute with China,” 2nd Aug 2013.
  • Mr. Le Hong Hiep, “The Political Economy of Vietnam’s Economic Relations with China,” 31st July 2013.
  • Dr Nolwen Henaff, “Education and Poverty in Vietnam,” 17 April 2012.
  • Mr Mathieu Tromme, “Corruption in Vietnam,” 27 February 2012.
  • Professor Hermann Waibel, “Urban Migration and Income Improvement in Thailand and Vietnam,” 16 February 2012.

Publications

ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute has published research and analyses on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Each edition of the annual Southeast Asian Affairs covers Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and the bimonthly ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute Monitor surveys Vietnam and Cambodia. Scholarship and research on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos appear in the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute journals: Contemporary Southeast Asia, Journal of Southeast Asian Economies and SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. Other recent publications include:

ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute Perspective Issues

Jason Morris-Jung Online Petitions: Promoting a Public Voice in Vietnamese Politics (20 July 2015)
Jason Morris-Jung An Ethnographic Glimpse: On the Trail of Chinese-Vietnamese Mining Cooperation (25 May 2015)
Le Hong Hiep Vietnam’s Leadership Transition in 2016: A Preliminary Analysis (18 May 2015)
Huong Le Thu The Middle Class in Hanoi: Vulnerability and Concerns (11 February 2015)
Ha Hoang Hop The Oil Rig Incident: A Line Has Been Crossed in Vietnam’s Relations with China (18 November 2014)
Ian Storey The Sino-Vietnamese Oil Rig Crisis: Implications for the South China Sea Dispute (15 October 2014)
Nguyen Van Chinh Chinese Labour Migration into Vietnam’s Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Sectors (19 August 2014)
Jason Morris-Jung Reflections on the Oil Rig Crisis: Vietnam’s Domestic Opposition Grows (30 July 2014)
John Lee Reforms Will Decide Vietnam’s Ability To Resist Economic Dominance By China (2 June 2014)
Jason Morris-Jung Reflections on the Oil Rig Crisis: Vietnam’s Domestic Opposition Grows (30 July 2014)
John Lee Reforms Will Decide Vietnam’s Ability To Resist Economic Dominance By China (2 June 2014)
Huong Le Thu The Anti-Chinese Riots in Vietnam: Responses from the Ground (27 May 2014)
Danielle Tan China in Laos: Is There Cause For Worry? (16 May 2014)
Le Hong Hiep Will Development Lead to Democratisation in Vietnam and China? (15 April 2014)
Huong Le Thu Bumper Harvest in 2013 for Vietnamese Diplomacy (23 January 2014)
Le Hong Hiep The One Party-State and Prospects for Democratization in Vietnam (9 Dec 2013)
Terence Chong Chinese Capital and Immigration into CLMV: Trends and Impact” (29 August 2013)
Ha Hoang Hop The Seventh Plenum of the Communist Party of Vietnam: The Gains of the Central Committee (12 July 2013)
Le Hong Hiep South China Sea Disputes Keep Vietnam – China Relations Cold (15 April 2013)
David Koh Vietnamese Reactions over the South China Sea: Divergence between Society and Government (21 January 2013)
David Koh The Sixth Plenum in Vietnam: Thunder Without Rain (29 October 2012)

Trends in Southeast Asia

Danielle Tan Chinese Engagement in Laos: Past, Present, and Uncertain Future (6 May 2015)
Le Hong Hiep Vietnam’s Alliance Politics in the South China Sea (5 May 2015)
Huong Le Thu Vietnam: Straddling Southeast Asia’s Divide (22 September 2014)
John Lee Reforms will Determine Degree of Vietnam’s Dependence on China (2 September 2014)
Ha Hoang Hop More Change Awaits Vietnam’s Political Economy (31 December 2013)

Working Papers

Vu Quoc Ngu The State-Owned Enterprise Reform in Vietnam: Process and Achievements Visiting Researchers Series No. 4 (2002)

Books

  • Le Hong Hiep, Anton Tsvetov (eds.), Vietnam’s Foreign Policy under Doi Moi (2018)
  • Daljit Singh and Malcolm Cook (ed.) Southeast Asian Affairs 2018 (2018)
  • Le Hong Hiep (ed.) Living Next to the Giant: The Political Economy of Vietnam’s Relations with China under Doi Moi (2017)
  • Setsuko Shibuya, Living with Uncertainty: Social Change and the Vietnamese Family in the Rural Mekong Delta (2015)
  • Hossein Jalilian, Sothorn Kem, Glenda Reyes, Kimsun Tong, Surviving the Global Financial and Economic Downturn: The Cambodian Experience (2014)
  • Nathalie Fau, Sirivanh Khonthapone, Christian Taillard (eds.), Transnational Dynamics in Southeast Asia: The Greater Mekong Subregion and Malacca Straits Economic Corridors (2013)
  • Omkar Lal Shrestha, Aekapol Chongvilaivan (eds.), Greater Mekong Subregion: From Geographical to Socio-economic Integration (2013)
  • Hossein Jalilian (ed.), Assessing China’s Impact on Poverty in the Greater Mekong Subregion (2013)
  • Nola Cooke, Li Tana, James A Anderson (eds.), The Tongking Gulf Through History (2013)
  • Hossein Jalilian (ed.), Costs and Benefits of Cross-Country Labour Migration in the GMS (2012
  • Kerstin Priwitzer, The Vietnamese Health Care System in Change: A Policy Network Analysis of a Southeast Asian Welfare Regime (2012)
  • Pou Sothirak, Geoff Wade, Mark Hong (eds.), Cambodia: Progress and Challenges since 1991 (2012)
  • Hang Chuon Naron, Cambodian Economy: Charting the Course of a Brighter Future – A Survey of Progress, Problems and Prospects (2012)
  • Jonathan D London (ed.), Education in Vietnam (2011)
  • Anita Chan (ed.), Labour in Vietnam (2011)
  • Philip Taylor, (ed.), Minorities at Large: New Approaches to Minority Ethnicity in Vietnam (2011)
  • The Cambodia Forum (2011)
  • Hossein Jalilian, Vicheth Sen (eds.), Improving Health Sector Performance: Institutions, Motivations and Incentives – the Cambodia Dialogue (2011)
  • Patrick Gubry, Franck Castiglioni, Jean-Michel Cusset, Nguyen Thi Thieng, Pham Thuy Huong (eds.), The Vietnamese City in Transition (2010)
  • Francois Molle, Tira Foran, Mira Kakonen (eds.), Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region: Hydropower, Livelihoods and Governance (2010)
  • Touch Visalsok, Ker Monthivuth, Southeast Asian Agriculture and Development Primer Series: Cambodia (2010)