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A lot of people here are saying the US and Vietnam are close now. Can anyone fill me in? Last I was aware, there was no extradition, and a museum about the War

by 55555 4y ago

A lot of people here are saying the US and Vietnam are close now. Can anyone fill me in? Last I was aware, there was no extradition, and a museum about the War of American Aggression, etc. I wasn’t aware we even had functioning diplomacy with Vietnam. I guess I should have though because Obama went and ate noodles there with Anthony Bourdain. Serious comment. I thought they hated us since the North won the war.

AYBABTME 4y ago
Well, not exactly allied, but China is a much more real and immediate threat to Viet Nam than the US are. Viet Nam isn't going to be a strategic threat to the US any day, and they have aligned interests in the South China Sea (East Sea for VN). The communist government in VN isn't that "bad" all things considered (heavy quotes). The country could grow in prominence and never become big enough to threaten the US's dominant position. VN and China have been in constant conflict over the sea they share, and their respective commercial and government ships have been in low intensity skirmishes. VN wants to have access to the seas and be able to extract petrol from there. China wants a clear frontyard to be able to protect their economy and trade. VN is too small to do much about China's navy, but with help from the US, it's a different story. In addition, China did try to invade VN right after the US-VN war, and VN remains highly suspicious of China. Hystorically, VN was a vassal state to China (like Korea) and given the trajectory of things and how China talks to their neighbours, it sure sounds like they plan on treating VN (and everyone else) as vassal states once again if and when they come back to world dominance. From the US side of things, shifting manufacturing to VN is a way to divest from China. And VN workers/trades are quite skilled, so the products themselves are not bad at all. So while the VN communist party can't just erase their origin story out from one day to the next and remove all the anti-US propaganda, the geopolitics reality is that VN and the US are naturally aligned against China. And similarly, the VN war was a huge cultural shock for the US and you can't just erase that from people's mind. But then pragmatism is that modern day US and VN's interest are a lot more aligned than they're misaligned. In fact aside for the whole history (conflict), political system (capitalist/communist) and governance stuff (freedom & democracy/authoritarian and single party), I think the US and VN don't have much in term of hurdles. The VN population mostly likes US folks (ignoring drunken bravado) and the US has a large VN diaspora and a guilt trip about the VN war.

by 55555 4y ago

AYBABTME 4y ago

Well, not exactly allied, but China is a much more real and immediate threat to Viet Nam than the US are. Viet Nam isn't going to be a strategic threat to the US any day, and they have aligned interests in the South China Sea (East Sea for VN). The communist government in VN isn't that "bad" all things considered (heavy quotes). The country could grow in prominence and never become big enough to threaten the US's dominant position. VN and China have been in constant conflict over the sea they share, and their respective commercial and government ships have been in low intensity skirmishes. VN wants to have access to the seas and be able to extract petrol from there. China wants a clear frontyard to be able to protect their economy and trade. VN is too small to do much about China's navy, but with help from the US, it's a different story. In addition, China did try to invade VN right after the US-VN war, and VN remains highly suspicious of China. Hystorically, VN was a vassal state to China (like Korea) and given the trajectory of things and how China talks to their neighbours, it sure sounds like they plan on treating VN (and everyone else) as vassal states once again if and when they come back to world dominance. From the US side of things, shifting manufacturing to VN is a way to divest from China. And VN workers/trades are quite skilled, so the products themselves are not bad at all. So while the VN communist party can't just erase their origin story out from one day to the next and remove all the anti-US propaganda, the geopolitics reality is that VN and the US are naturally aligned against China. And similarly, the VN war was a huge cultural shock for the US and you can't just erase that from people's mind. But then pragmatism is that modern day US and VN's interest are a lot more aligned than they're misaligned. In fact aside for the whole history (conflict), political system (capitalist/communist) and governance stuff (freedom & democracy/authoritarian and single party), I think the US and VN don't have much in term of hurdles. The VN population mostly likes US folks (ignoring drunken bravado) and the US has a large VN diaspora and a guilt trip about the VN war.