Table Of ContentVIETNAM AND THE WORLD
Vietnam and the World
Marxist-Leninist Doctrine and the
Changes in International Relations,
1975-93
Eero Palmu joki
Assistant Professor
Department ofP olitical Science and International Relations
University ofTampere
Finland
First published in Great Britain 1997 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-25348-7 ISBN 978-1-349-25346-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-25346-3
First published in the United States of America 1997 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-17240-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Palmujoki, Eero.
Vietnam and the world: Marxist-Leninist doctrine and the changes
in international relations. 1975-931 Eero Palmujoki.
p. crn.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-17240-4 (cloth)
I. Vietnam-Politics and governrnent-I 975- 2. Vietnam-Foreign
relations. 3. Communism-Vietnam. I. Title.
DS559.91 2.P34 1997
327.597'09'04--dc20 96-46359
CIP
© Eero Palmujoki 1997
Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1997
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This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
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1098765 432 I
06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97
To Silja, Lassi and Sauli
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
1 Introduction: Marxism-Leninism and Global Change 1
Focusing on the Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist Doctrine 1
The Marxist-Leninist Doctrinal Code 8
Pragmatism and Formalism in Vietnamese Marxist Rhetoric 12
Foreign Policy and the Change of the Doctrine 14
PART I VIETNAMESE MARXISM-LENINISM AND
FOREIGN RELATIONS
2 Two Approaches of Vietnamese Marxism-Leninism 21
"The Enemy and Us" in the Pragmatic Approach 22
"Two Roads of Development" and Formal Marxism-Leninism 28
Foreign Relations and Ideological Motivation 33
3 Vietnam and the World's Revolutionary Forces 39
The Concepts and Themes of International Relations 1960-86 39
Pragmatism, Formalism and Foreign Relations 57
PART II THE "HIGH TIDE" OF THE WORLD'S
REVOLUTIONARY FORCES 1975-85
4 The Striving for Avant-garde Foreign Policy 1975-78 65
Vietnam as a Part of the Socialist World System 66
Vietnam, Indochina and the Special Relationship 85
Vietnam, ASEAN and the Two Camps Theory 99
Vietnam, the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations 113
5 Isolation and Formalism 1979-85 128
Vietnam after the Occupation of Kampuchea 128
The Takeover of Formalism 130
Vietnam's Doctrine on Indochina 142
The Indochina Doctrine and the Global Audience 147
The Indochina Doctrine and Regional Diplomacy 161
VII
viii Contents
PART III THE RE-EVALUATION OF VIETNAMESE
MARXISM
6 Vietnam and Global Changes 1986-93 173
The End of Doctrinal Unity 173
Soviet Perestroika and Vietnamese Doi Moi Compared 178
Doi Moi and Foreign Relations 181
Internationalization and the Re-evaluation of Marxist Doctrine 196
7 Conclusion: The Disintegration of the Marxist-Leninist
Doctrine 208
Notes and References 216
Bibliography 238
Index 253
Acknowledgments
Over the past decade, I have enjoyed intellectual, practical and material
help from my colleagues, friends and relatives. As this book grew out of
a doctoral dissertation, I am indebted above all to my mentor, Osmo
Apunen, the University of Tampere, for his guidance. Carlyle A. Thayer
and Ilmari Susiluoto did painstaking work reading and commenting on
the manuscript, and I am deeply grateful for their support in improving
it. Harto Hakovirta, Pertti Lappalainen, Markku Peltonen, Stein
T~nnesson, Pekka Virtanen and Raimo Vayrynen offered valuable
comments on its drafts. I also wish to thank Jari Aro, Joan LOfgren, Jalil
Miswardi and Tran Minh Canh for their assistance during the different
phases of my research.
It has been a pleasure to delve into Asian studies and international
relations. My colleagues on the staff of the Department of Political
Science and International Relations at the University of Tampere have
given me important support in my studies. I also immensely enjoyed
working at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and in its library in
Singapore, where the Vietnamese materials proved of utmost value to my
study. I am indebted to various scholars and the staff of the institute and
the library for their help and guidance. I also wish to extend thanks to my
colleagues and the staff at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies in
Copenhagen for their assistance during my visits there. The Institute of
International Relations in Hanoi was very helpful in arranging my visit
to Vietnam.
I received important support in rewriting and publishing the
manuscript. In this, I am particularly grateful to Harto Hakovirta, Markku
Peltonen and Carlyle A. Thayer for their encouragement. I received
invaluable help with the English, which is not my native language, from
Paul Sjoblom, who did great deal of work putting the text into more
readable form. I would also like to thank Marita Alanko for preparing the
manuscript for the publishers. The comments and suggestions of the
publishers have provided necessary editorial advice in the final stages of
this project.
Many people have given assistance and moral support during the
performance of my studies and the writing of this book - a larger number
than I can possibly name here. I can only mention my mother and, finally,
thank my wife Sirkku for her understanding, particularly during the final
laborious years of the study.
IX
Abbreviations
APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
ot
ASEAN Association Southeast Asian Nations
CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union
CGDK Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
CPV Communist Party of Vietnam
CMEA Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
DRV Democratic Republic of Vietnam
FLPH Foreign Language Publishing House
FRETILIN Frente Revolucionaria de Timor Leste Independente
ICK International Conference on Kampuchea
ICP Indochinese Communist Party
KNUFNS Kampuchean National United Front for National Salvation
KPP Khmer People's Party
LPDR Lao People's Democratic Republic
NCLS Nghien Cuu Lich Su
NLF National Liberation Front
PRC People's Republic of China
PRK People's Republic of Kampuchea
SEATO Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
SRV Socialist Republic of Vietnam
TCCS Tap Chi Cong San
TCTH Tap Chi Triet Hoc
UN United Nations
UNGA United Nations' General Assembly
U.S. United States
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
VNA Vietnam News Agency
VNC Viet N am Courier
ZOPFAN Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality
xi
1 Introduction:
Marxism-Leninism and
Global Change
FOCUSING ON THE VIETNAMESE MARXIST-LENINIST
DOCTRINE
The radical changes that have taken place in the global political landscape
in general and in that of the Asia-Pacific region in particular in the past
few years have challenged many established assumptions about political
developments and international relations. The development of Vietnam's
political thinking in response to these changes is extremely interesting in
this respect. This book deals with Vietnam's international relations and
foreign policy from the end of the Second Indochina War, in the spring of
1975, to the beginning of the 1990s from the point of view of Vietnamese
political doctrine. The fall of Saigon and the defeat of the United States
in Indochina in the spring of 1975 marked the high tide of "the world
revolutionary forces" and in the influence of Soviet global foreign policy.
By 1993, however, the two camps structure had been demolished, the
radical Third World movement had simmered down, and the Asia-Pacific
region was boosting its status in the global framework. Nevertheless,
although the Soviet Union and other Marxist-Leninist state systems in
East Europe have collapsed, totalitarian Marxist state systems have
maintained at least their fa~ades in the Far East, North Korea, the
People's Republic of China (PRC), Laos and Vietnam up to the 1990s.
During the two decades following the Second Indochina War, Vietnam
assumed an important role in both regional and global terms. After its
victorious military struggle against U.S. forces, Vietnam took a crucial
place in the Third World movement and held the key position in the
delicate balance of power between the Soviet Union and China in
Southeast Asia. Although its role changed radically during subsequent
political developments in Indochina, which culminated in Vietnam's
occupation of Kampuchea and in the Sino-Vietnamese war atthe beginning
of 1979, Vietnam remained a factor of undiminished importance in the
region. Now it both enjoyed a close relationship with the Soviet Union
and represented the Soviet bloc's global interests in Southeast Asia.
