By Nguyen Manh Hung The visit of Nguyen Phu Trong to the United States, if it takes place as planned, will be unprecedented. He would be the first secretary general of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the country’s top…
By Phuong Nguyen The revelation on March 11 that Washington expressed concern to Hanoi about Russia’s use of Cam Ranh Bay to assist its bomber flights in the Asia Pacific has again prompted a debate on the role of…
By Zachary Abuza Media freedom across Southeast Asia continues to decline according to Reporters Without Borders’ (RWB) 2015 report. Despite the region’s economic vibrancy, Southeast Asian states languish in the lower half of the 180-country survey. Half the countries in…
By Gregory Poling Those closely following the situation in the South China Sea have been wringing their hands about the military potential of China’s unprecedented island building work over the last year. This anxiety is understandable, and the expanded patrol…
CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) has obtained exclusive never-before-seen imagery of China’s building and land reclamation efforts in the Spratly Islands, a highly contested area in the South China Sea. One area of note for East Asia watchers for…
Who is he? Nguyen Ba Thanh was a prominent and widely popular Vietnamese politician. His stature was built upon his dynamic and decisive leadership of the fast-growing and investor-friendly city of Danang in central Vietnam. A native of the city,…
By Nigel Cory Vietnam’s government has often been criticized for its poor record on religious freedom, but recent events give rise to cautious optimism that small improvements are being made. Roman Catholic Pope Francis’ appointment of Vietnamese archbishop Pierre Nguyen…
By Joakim Parker & Todd Hamner This year’s 20th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam offers reflections on what the two countries have achieved and what might come next. U.S. ambassador to Vietnam Ted…
Who is he? Vice Admiral Scott Swift is a career aviator who entered the U.S. Navy in 1979. Swift was most recently the director of Navy staff in the Office of the Chief of Navy Operations. He was the former…
By Michael Sheldrick Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s recent cuts to Australia’s foreign aid budget have left it at the lowest level it has ever been since its origination over 40 years ago. In fact, once these cuts are fully implemented,…