Vietnam’s Regional Security Strategy in The Context of France’s Pivot to Asia
Keywords:
Asia, regional security, pivot policy, France, Vietnam, middle powers, strategic options, major countries, strategic adjustment, foreign policy, environmental security, multilateralism.Abstract
The study centered on the selection of security strategy of Vietnam as a middle power of Asian. Regarding the coverage of the study, it was conducted in the context of France’s pivot to Asia in the period from 2012 to now. By empirical analysis approach, the article clarifies the selection of a mixed strategy of Vietnam. The empirical analysis is performed on the basis of interpretation, explanation and prediction of Vietnam’s strategic options in reliance on the available resources and the current strategic environment. It is argued that the regional security strategies of middle powers could be in two forms, namely, functional ones by which the middle powers pool their own resources to address their own particular issues, and normative ones by which the middle powers spur the broadly accepted standards of multilateralism. It is assumed that regardless of functional or normative strategies, the available resources and strategic environment are the fundamentals. Available resources are assets which a country owns and employ to guarantee its essential interests while the strategic environment covers the perception of risks suffered by the country as well as the characteristics of security structure where that country is positioned. As a result, a number of policy options can be proposed for Vietnam based on available resources and strategic environment with French involvement.