It’s been quite a while since my last update, and how much things have changed! We’re not just entering the “New Era” in Vietnam but witnessing the dawn of several “New Eras” globally, including the return of Donald Trump to the White House in the U.S.
Leadership changes are busy times for think tankers, as everyone is rushing to understand which directions the country will move forward. I wrote about what to expect from Vietnam’s new helmsman To Lam on Fulcrum, as well as talking to various international media outlets about what this means for Vietnam. I also did a podcast on the topic with Dr Le Hong Hiep, coordinator of the Vietnam Studies Programme at ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute, for anyone who prefers listening.
But of course, leadership changes matter most for Vietnamese. While it’s too early to predict the full impact, there’s a palpable desire for change in the air. For Vietnamese readers, hopefully some policy makers, I discussed what are the new drivers for Vietnam’s “New Era” on the People’s Daily (Nhan Dan) and how to reform the stagmented and oversized state apparatus on VnExpress. Vietnamese are concerned about what’s going on across the Pacific, too. I wrote about the opportunities and challenges for Vietnam in the second Trump administration on Saigon Times.
In the past 6 months, I also had the opportunity to join many exciting workshops and seminars, meeting great people – including some scholars I’ve long admired. The discussion about China and Southeast Asia at Chatham House in September was a highlight, not least because this was a homecoming trip for me to London, where I did part of my master’s degree, exactly 10 years ago. I was also invited to Bali for a workshop on Indonesia’s new foreign policy as Prabowo Subianto was elected as the successor to Jokowi.
For a slower read, you might want to check out my new research on the political economy of Vietnam’s high-speed rail project on ISEAS Perspective, a Trends article discussing authoritarian diffusion between Vietnam and China (“Learn from Your Comrades: Understanding Authoritarian Diffusion between Vietnam and China”), and a book chapter on Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign on Southeast Asian Affairs 2024.
Khac Giang's blog 