ABSTRACT
Figure 9.1 illustrates the outcome of this research and its contributions to the development of new approaches to filling in the five gaps identified in Chapter 2.
This study has sought to contribute to the development of a new view on power relations between global forces and socialist countries such as Vietnam which are strong nation-states and have weak economic development when going global. Vietnam’s government wants to keep a balance between gaining economic benefits from the global economy and maintaining its political control. It also wants to avoid Western influences which normally go hand in hand with global capital forces, because it sees that new Western domination may bring in negative impacts on national identity, socialist ideology and national culture, and eventually lead to a neo-colonial society. Accordingly, joining the global economy is a process of negotiation between Vietnam’s state and global capital forces. Vietnam’s government has proved that so far it has power in negotiation and has not been totally driven by global economic forces. Vietnam is still achieving high economic growth through its economic reform. It attracts a large amount of FDI and, at the same time, foreign influences (e.g. the role of MNCs and international monetary bodies such as the World Bank and the IFM) are still under control. The multi-directional strategy of economic development has confirmed the state’s attitudes of balancing the global economic forces and the nation-state of Vietnam.
