ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Soviet-Vietnamese association at the subliminal level by considering certain fundamental cultural differences and conflicting patterns of thought. An old Vietnam hand—an American—returned to Saigon recently for a visit, and one afternoon, while browsing in a Tu Do street antique shop, found himself trailed closely by the ancient proprietor whose manner clearly communicated unfriendliness. There is in the relationship of a Vietnamese with any foreigner an intuitive level that is elusive and totally intangible, but one the outsider ignores at his peril for it also is the ultimate reality of the association. The subliminal level of the process is largely determined by the kind of affective or emotive communication that takes place. Vietnamese and Soviet efforts to communicate at this empathetic level are subject to two major impediments, one of them peculiarly Vietnamese, the other more or less common to Asia and the West.
