"Can Vietnam Succeed?"

A detailed Summary of "Can Vietnam Succeed?"

When questioning the chances of success for Vietnam, we need to understand that Vietnam's 'success' can only be assessed by the extent to which Vietnam's economy, political system, and administrative institutions are successfully meeting the needs of its citizens, and supporting the beliefs of its society.

This is not a straightforward thing to assess, as since its independence from China, Vietnam has struggled for independence against efforts of conquest and assimilation from Western and European countries, facing upheavals of its economic, political and administrative systems. The people of Vietnam have had to survive with such intervention while attempting to maintain their social structure within it.

The success of the Vietnamese "... lies in the successful fusion of two powerful aspirations in one struggle: the longing for independence and the country's reunification, and the drive for economic and social justice."

To make a decision on whether Vietnam can be successful we need to understand what has taken place in Vietnam historically, and keep that in mind when we consider where it is going today. Vietnam has faced periodic interruptions were caused by the Chinese, with their constant a

Western jurisprudence was different to that of the Vietnamese, as it involved the concept of the individual. Western ideology is based on the concept of the individual in terms of rights and justice, however "Vietnam's legal codes emphasized the group, be it the family, community, or the state... In such ambience, no right is alienable."

In 1978, a similar program was implemented in the South, however as the state was making up any factory deficits, managers did not face market competition and were not strained to maintain quality.

France entered Vietnam wanting to propagate Western morality and civilization . The French insisted that not only would Vietnam be a commercial asset but one where "... the French could pass on the benefits of their superior culture to the 'barbaric' inhabitants."

However, it is important to realize that economic liberalization has also resulted in a new class structure, with elite capitalists at the top and impoverished masses at the bottom. A new poor, a significant minority, are losing access to health care and education. "As industrialization accelerates without effective regulation, ecological costs are mounting; pollution of air and water, destruction of forests, and over fishing of rivers and coastal seas."

Once war was over, Vietnam was faced with extreme economic problems. From 1955 to 1975, the economy had relied on US aid, this ending in 1975, by which time the South suffered overwhelming damage to its land. "The war also left millions of refugees; hundreds of thousands of demobilized soldiers, hundreds of thousands of drug addicts; hundreds of thousands of invalids, tens of thousands of prostitutes." P 37.

In order to understand why the Vietnamese are continually struggling for independence, we need to understand

Some common words found in the essay are:
Finally Vietnam, Dinh Diem, Le Duan, Western European, Le Duan's, Vietnam Asia's, America France, Vietnam Succeed, Vietnam SRV, Cold War, political system, hundreds thousands, administrative institutions successfully, vietnam's economy political, vietnam successful, independence china, assimilation western, conquest assimilation, supporting beliefs, citizens supporting, economy political system, political system administrative, vietnam faced, system administrative institutions, beliefs society,

Approximate Word count = 1200
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Foreign