Making U.S.-Vietnam Ties a Model for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Report
Report

Making U.S.-Vietnam Ties a Model for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific

Vietnam's Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich presents war relics of a U.S. serviceman to U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis after their meeting in Hanoi on January 25, 2018. KHAM/AFP/Getty Images

By adopting tougher regional strategic and economic measures with Vietnam, the Donald J. Trump administration could further convince Southeast Asian states to embrace the Free and Open Indo-Pacific concept.

November 2018

Vietnam's Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich presents war relics of a U.S. serviceman to U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis after their meeting in Hanoi on January 25, 2018. KHAM/AFP/Getty Images
Report

Overview

Since Donald J. Trump became president, many U.S. partners in Southeast Asia have worried about whether the United States will remain the region’s guarantor of security and trade integration, and the Trump administration’s approach to Southeast Asia has lacked consistency. But there is still time for the Trump White House to advance its goals and restore Southeast Asians’ trust in the United States. U.S.-Vietnamese relations provide an ideal opportunity to do so.

Joshua Kurlantzick

Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia

The White House has adopted a tougher approach to the South China Sea, expanding freedom of navigation operations, and has taken a stronger stance against China’s anticompetitive trade practices. In addition, the Trump administration has rolled out a broad strategy for the region, called the Free and Open Indo-Pacific. It vows to promote a rules-based security and economic order in Asia, while also encouraging closer cooperation among regional U.S. partners.

More on:

Vietnam

Indo-Pacific

Diplomacy and International Institutions

Trade

Yet at the same time, the Trump administration has sent worrying signals to Southeast Asia, and overall, the administration’s erratic approach to policymaking has undermined Southeast Asians’ confidence in the United States. For the Trump administration to restore Southeast Asian states’ trust in the United States as an indispensable external actor, it needs to show that tough policies are not just designed to favor the United States but also can benefit Southeast Asia, one of the world’s fastest-growing regions economically and an area of significant strategic value.

It can do so in Vietnam. There, Trump’s tough rhetoric on trade and security jibes with sentiment in the country, and Vietnam is the Southeast Asian state most actively defending its interests in the South China Sea. Hanoi recognizes that though working with Washington risks provoking Beijing, China is already trying to intimidate Vietnam. Hanoi is already essentially putting into effect aspects of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy. By adopting tougher regional strategic and economic measures with Vietnam, the Trump administration could demonstrate to Southeast Asia that its harder approach could be in their interests. It could further convince them to embrace the Free and Open Indo-Pacific.

Read an excerpt from this report in Vietnamese

Đọc một đoạn trích từ báo cáo này bằng tiếng Việt

More on:

Vietnam

Indo-Pacific

Diplomacy and International Institutions

Trade

Top Stories on CFR

Europe

Two things emerged clearly from this week’s Copenhagen Democracy Summit, the eighth annual gathering convened by Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Iran

Karim Sadjadpour, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the ongoing talks between the United States and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program.

Human Rights

The Trump visit to the Gulf showed no understanding of the invaluable asset that support for human rights represents for the United States.