CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EMERGENCE OF VIETNAMESE-U.S.

COOPERATION AS A RESULT

OF THE RISE OF CHINA

MARIO SHAREVSKI^1

Introduction

In the state of anarchy of international relations, the eternal dilemma of
whether to balance towards the rising power or bandwagon is always
present. Regarding the geopolitical struggle for power, economic
expansion, political influence in other countries, acquisition of natural
resources, and control of important geostrategic spots, ideological
differences and historical disputes between the countries are usually easily
forgotten and overcome. Contradictions in the geopolitics and foreign
policies of countries pursuing their national interests are very common and
normal, considering the fact that the conditions and circumstances in the
struggle for survival or expansion tailor the policies and strategies to fit
the most reliable path. Moreover, ideologies and history are usually just
tools to fulfill national geopolitical strategies. China is the most obvious
example of contradiction, regarding the way of achieving its national
development and interests as a rising power. With its formula of one
country, two systems, it has a one-party communist political system and a
free market economic system, a combination which is theoretically
contradictory and impossible.
Today, the rise of China is the most important topic, concerning not
just Asia and its neighbors, but also the whole world. Great powers are
making alliances and strategies towards China with the countries from its

(^1) Mario Sharevski (born 1990) is a student from Macedonia in the Geopolitical
Studies Master’s program at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in
Prague.