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1
V
IETNAM IN
ASEAN:
 
M
ULTILATERALISM AND
R
ELATIONS WITH THE
G
REAT
P
OWERS
 
Carlyle A. Thayer 
* 
 
[
Paper to Vietnam on the Road to Development and Integration: Tradition andModernity, 2nd International Conference on Vietnamese Studies, National Centerfor Social Sciences and Humanities of Vietnam, Vietnam National University, andthe Ford Foundation, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, July 14-16, 2004]
 
Introduction
This paper explores the role of multilateralism in Vietnam’s foreignpolicy throughout the decade of the 1990s until the present. Thepaper is organized into five parts. Part 1 provides a definition ofmultilateralism. Part two traces the origins of Vietnam’s multi-directional foreign policy. Part three reviews Vietnam’s experienceas a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations(ASEAN). Party four reviews Vietnam’s experience withmultilateralism in the wake of the Asian Financial Crisis. Part fiveoffers some conclusions arising from Vietnam’s experience withmultilateralism.
Part 1 — Multilateralism
Robert Keohane defines multilateralism as ‘the practice ofcoordinating national policies in groups of three or more statesthough ad hoc arrangements or by means of institutions’.
1
Thisdefinition is called the ‘minimalist definition’ because of itsquantitative nature (three or more states) and because multilateralinstitutions are defined as simply ‘multilateral arrangements withpersistent sets of rules’. John Ruggie
2
offers a deeper (or maximalist)definition of multilateralism. Ruggie asks what is it aboutinternational institutions that make them multilateral? He arguesthat it is not simply the number of actors involved but the qualitative
*
Director UNSW Defence Studies Forum, School of Humanities and SocialSciences, University College, The University of New South Wales at the AustralianDefence Force Academy, Canberra.
 
1Robert O. Keohane, ‘Multilateralism: An Agenda for Research’,
International Journal
, 45 (Autumn 1990), 731.2 John Ruggie, ‘Multilateralism: The Anatomy of an Institution’,
InternationalOrganization
, 46, 3 (Summer 1992), 566-568,
 
2 Carlyle A. Thayer
dimension or character of their coordination.According to Ruggie, multilateral relations involve three or morestates coming together to tackle a specific issue or set of issues on thebasis of generalized principles of conduct. In other words,multilateral institutions adopt appropriate conduct for a class ofactions irrespective of particular interests or circumstances. Heidentifies three generalized principles that are important: non-discrimination, indivisibility, and diffuse reciprocity. The principleof indivisibility may be illustrated with reference to the GeneralAgreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) or the most-favoured-nation(MFN) principle. Under GATT and MFN the trade system is anindivisible whole and all parties agree to treat each other in a likefashion. Diffuse reciprocity means, with respect to exports forexample, that one party will receive roughly the same amount ofbenefit in aggregate over a period of time as all other parties. Thispaper adopts Ruggie’s definition when the term multilateralism isused in this paper.
Part 2 — A Multi-Directional Foreign Policy
During the 1980s, a major transformation took place in howVietnam’s policy elite conceptualized foreign policy. The roots of thistransformation were two fold. They lay in domestic circumstancesarising from the socio-economic crisis that confronted Vietnam atthat time. And secondly, they also lay in external influences arisingfrom the ‘new political thinking’ emanating from Gorbachev’s SovietUnion. Vietnam turned from a foreign policy framework heavilystructured by ideological considerations to a foreign policyframework that placed greater emphasis on national interest.Vietnamese analysts now tended to emphasize global economicforces and the impact of the revolution in science and technologyover military-industrial aspects of power when weighing the globalbalance.
3
The old and new foreign policy frameworks are notmutually exclusive, they can and do overlap and co-exist.Vietnam’s ideologically-derived world view began to change intandem with a re-thinking of Soviet foreign policy. In December1986, at the sixth national congress of CPV, Vietnam adopted thepolicy of
doi moi
. This policy was mainly concerned with overcoming
3Vu Khoan, ‘Mot so van de quoc te cua dai hoi VII’ and Nguyen Manh Cam, ‘Giatri lau ben va dinh huong nhat quan’ in Bo Ngoai Giao,
Hoi nhap quoc te va giuvung ban sac
. Hanoi: Nha xuat ban chinh tri quoc te, 1995, 71–76 and 223–230,respectively.
 
Vietnam in ASEAN 3
the domestic economic crisis by the adoption of socio-economicreforms including opening Vietnam to foreign direct investment.It was not until May 1988, however, that Vietnam’s new foreignpolicy orientation was codified. This took the form of PolitburoResolution no. 13 which stressed a ‘multi-directional foreign policy’orientation.
4
This resolution is now recognized as a major landmark.The emphasis was ‘to maintain peace, take advantage of favorableworld conditions’ in order to stabilize the domestic situation and setthe base for economic development over the next ten to fifteen years.Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, both Vietnamese andSoutheast Asian leaders began to discuss the prospects of andconditions for Vietnam’s membership in the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In November 1990, President Suhartoof Indonesia became the first ASEAN head of state to pay an officialvisit to Vietnam. In March 1991, Malaysia’s Prime Minister proposedthe initiation of a dialogue between ASEAN and the non-memberstates of mainland Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos andCambodia). This was immediately welcomed by Vietnam which alsosignaled its desire to attract investment from ASEAN businessmen.An important elaboration of Vietnam’s ‘multi-directional foreignpolicy’ was adopted by the seventh national party congress in June1991.
5
Vietnam now sought ‘to be friends with all countries’.Vietnam’s
Strategy for Socioeconomic Stabilization and Development Upto the Year 2000
, declared that Vietnam would ‘diversify andmultilateralise economic relations with all countries and economicorganizations...’ In August, Phan Van Khai, first vice chairman of theCouncil of Ministers, speaking at an international symposium inHanoi, signaled Vietnam’s desire to cooperate with ASEANmembers. Another Vietnamese official stated that ‘ASEAN canbecome the bridge between Vietnam and the world.’
6
In September,during the course of a visit to Hanoi by Thailand’s Foreign Minister,Vietnam expressed its willingness to accede to the 1976 ASEANTreaty of Amity and Cooperation and then followed up by officiallynotifying the Philippines of its intention.
7
 
4Nguyen Dy Nien, ‘Tiep tuc doi moi va mo cua vi su nghiep cong nghiep hoa,hien dai hoa dat nuoc’,
Tap Chi Cong San
, no. 12, June 1996, 47.5Vu Khoan, ‘Mot so van de quoc te cua dai hoi VII’, op. cit., 75.6Remarks by Pham Van Tiem, chairman of the State Price Committee quoted byAndrew Sherry, Agence France–Presse (AFP), Hanoi, 25 August 1991.7Kavi Chongkittavorn, ‘Vietnam now casting its eyes towards Asean’,
The Nation
,
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