Reinventing Vietnam

The Vietnamese Communist Party is holding its 13th National Congress this week. These semi-decennial conclaves are typically carefully scripted, spiritless affairs where the party sets forth long-term goals and formally anoints new leaders. But this one is particularly important and, curiously for a party completely obsessed with stability, shrouded in palace intrigue. All of Vietnam’s top leadership posts appear to be up for grabs, despite typically being decided well in advance. This is, in part, because the generational transition of power scheduled to take place at the last congress in 2016 never did, leaving a major power struggle unresolved and the country in political limbo. (If pre-congress leaks prove true, it looks unlikely to be resolved this go round too.) The political paralysis reflects Vietnam’s deep-rooted regional, ideological and generational divides, ones that in recent years have bred an inability to make decisions at inopportune moments in Hanoi. The VCP traditionally governs by consensus, which it considers sacred. But given the mounting pressures on the country from both inside and out, the inherent problems of this model have become ever more apparent. How forcefully Vietnam resists China over the next decade, and how closely it integrates with the West, will […]