Chapter Thirteen
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Conclusion
From the information presented in this short chapter, we can freely
conclude that cooperation between two former foes, Vietnam and the US,
is real and in constant growth. This confirms Palmerston’s famous idea
that nations have no permanent allies and foes, but permanent and eternal
interests that can draw them together on the same side. The main and most
obvious reason for the emergence of close cooperation between Vietnam
and the US is the assertive rise of China, which jeopardizes the national
interests of both countries. Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that the
emergence of cooperation between Vietnam and the US is in fact an act of
balancing against China’s growing power in the region.
The emergence of Vietnamese-U.S. cooperation can be clearly seen in
three main areas: political, security, and economic. Although the approach
was careful, especially from the Vietnamese side, the political will to
cooperate and the necessity of cooperation are obviously strong and vivid.
Cooperation between Vietnam and the US on political, security (military),
and economic levels is established through official bilateral agreements
and acts between the two countries, and it is constantly strengthened by
the visits of high-ranking officials and concrete actions, as well as within
multilateral organizations. The fact that this cooperation not only improves
their own relations, but also concerns many of the issues and effects of
China’s behavior, it can be clearly concluded that it is triggered by and
targeted at the balancing and containment of the threats posed by the rise
of China.
Geographically, as the only South China Sea country that has a land
border with China (over which a war was waged in the past), and due to
the fact that it possess the whole western shore of the sea, while the
southern and eastern shores are possessed by US allies, Vietnam has an
extremely important geostrategic position for the US the strategy of
containment of China. We can expect further deepening of their
cooperation, because it is evident that, in recent times, tensions have been
constantly increasing due to the aggressive Chinese stance, politically and
militarily, in the South and East China Seas towards neighboring
countries, and even towards the US as a major rival.