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Changes in a globalized and integrated world - opportunities and challenges (Part 2 and end)

15/4/18
2. Opportunities and challenges to small and medium-sized countries
Concerning opportunities, there is a positive common point that countries all advocate building a world of peace, cooperation and development and not using violence for solving disputes and differences. It at least creates confidence and peaceful environment for countries to foster cooperation and national construction. For the sake of influence worldwide, small and medium-sized countries, including Vietnam will become the subject for major powers to induce and compete for in both political and economic terms. As a result, the role of small and medium-sized countries will be increasingly heightened. If they seize this opportunity to raise their voice over international political issues and together set out “rules of the game”, to some extent, major powers will make concession. Accordingly, status and role of small and medium-sized countries in international relations and settlement of global issues will be respected while relations with major power will be strengthened, and they will not be dependent on any major powers.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. increasingly active intervention in the region, the rise of China and the engagement of major powers in regional issues have opened up opportunities for regional countries to develop their relations with China, the U.S., and other major powers, creating favourable conditions to encourage the trend of peace, cooperation and development in Asia-Pacific, in general and the Southeast Asia, in particular.
Against this backdrop, in spite of difficulties and limitations, ASEAN will be likely to continue to be the facilitator for regional cooperation. First, doubts and political distrust among major powers will facilitate ASEAN’s central role in designing mechanisms for regional cooperation. Major powers will be more tolerant towards ASEAN-led mechanisms of cooperation and dialogue. Second, the success of each ASEAN member state in national modernization and their effort to maintain regional peace and stability have made ASEAN an important organization to the order of the East Asia. Third, ASEAN has agreed to build the Community with three pillars since late 2015 to make cooperation more practical. This is also a favourable condition for ASEAN to play the core role in cooperation with major powers. Due to strategic competition, all major powers support ASEAN’s role in building mechanisms for regional cooperation. ARF, ADMM-Plus, Shangri-La Dialogue, etc., are considered as irreplaceable mechanisms of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, regardless of their limitations. In other words, ASEAN, a bloc of small and medium-sized countries, is backed by major powers, acting as a facilitator to the process of regional cooperation, which is an important characteristic of the Asia-Pacific region.
Changes in a globalized and integrated world have posed challenges to small and medium-sized countries, particularly the maintenance of independence and self-reliance in international relations. Most of the small and medium-sized countries are developing or underdeveloped ones and thirsty for investments, transfer of technology and finance from developed ones, thereby leading to economic dependence on a major power to some extent. Economic dependence will bring about political dependence and loss of independence and self-reliance in internal affairs and international relations. It is thought to be the most serious challenge to small and medium-sized countries nowadays.
Another challenge to small and medium-sized countries is to create a relative “balance” in their relations with major powers, not to jump on the bandwagon, in order to avoid becoming the cause of confrontation among major powers which could lead to armed conflicts and wars. Reality has shown that when a conflict of interests between major powers appears, they will seek to pass it to small and medium-sized countries. In other words, major powers will seek to conduct “proxy wars” like those taking in small and medium-sized countries in the 20th century.
In addition, non-traditional security challenges (natural disasters, epidemics, terrorism, trans-national crime, climate change, energy security, food security and water security issues, etc.) and consequences of populism and protectionism have caused difficulties in human and material resources and necessitated new perception and approach to the concept “national sovereignty” in the era of international integration when interdependence among countries in the world is unceasingly increased. Those challenges have been causing far-reaching consequences to peace, stability and development of human race. Thus, to seize the opportunity and eliminate challenges to strengthen international cooperation, facilitate development, prevent and remove risks of armed conflicts, small and medium -sized countries should formulate sound, proper policies and strategies.
As for Vietnam, fully aware of the trend of the times and the global and regional complexion, our Party and State have drawn up sound, timely guidelines and strategies on the basis of national interests. As a result, we have taken advantage of opportunities to foster national development, and obtained historic, significant achievements in the cause of socialist construction. It is noted that our country has escaped the socio-economic crisis and underdevelopment to become a middle-income developing one. Politics and society have been stabilized; defence and security have been strengthened; diplomatic relations have been expanded and increasingly deepened; Vietnam’s status and prestige have been raised. Those achievements have provided an important foundation for our country’s continuous reform and robust development in the upcoming years. In order to grasp the opportunities and minimize challenges in the context of globalization and international integration, Resolution of the 12th National Congress of the  Communist Party of Vietnam determined that  it is necessary to “Ensure national supreme interests on the basis of international law for the sake of equality and mutual interests, consistently implement the diplomatic line of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development; diversify and multilateralize diplomatic relations; proactively and actively integrate into the world; be a friend, reliable partner, and responsible member of the international community. On the basis of both cooperation and struggle, diplomatic activities are aimed to maintain peace and stability and take advantage of external resources to develop the country and improve people’s life; resolutely, persistently defend national independence, sovereignty, unification and territorial integrity, protect the Party, State, people and socialist regime; raise the country’s status and prestige and contribute to the cause of peace, national independence and democracy worldwide”.


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