ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 discusses the revamped conceptualisation of public diplomacy (PD) after Doi Moi in 1986, as a result of Vietnam’s new thinking about ‘national identity’ and ‘national interest.’ In effect, it presents two case studies: Vietnam’s PD during wartime and Vietnam’s PD for global integration. It argues that the redefinition of Vietnam’s national interests and identities after Doi Moi shifted Vietnamese PD from a wartime propaganda mode to a more accommodative approach suitable for global integration. Constructivism provides a more convincing explanation for that transformation of PD, taking into account the dialectic of ‘national interest’ and ‘national identity.’
