Vietnam Archives - Foreign Policy In Focus

Laos: Power Trumps Reform

by John Feffer, Ronald Bruce St John | Dec 18, 2006

There is broad agreement today that a market economy works well within a Western democratic system, but there is much less consensus over whether it can function effectively in an authoritarian state. The contemporary political economy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) provides an excellent case in point. The Lao experience since the Communist takeover in 1975 suggests real limits to a development model that combines single party rule with market economics.

Vietnam: The Changing Faces of Reform

by John Feffer, Andrew Wells-Dang | Dec 18, 2006

During the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Hanoi in November, international media attention focused on the rapid economic changes in Vietnam. ÂSocialist Ideals are Fading as World’s Businesses Rush In,Â reads one subtitle. A young entrepreneur with a craving for Western luxury brands represents Âthe new face of Vietnam.Â And an American expatriate in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) reports that Âit’s all electric here.Â

Bush on 9/11: Annotated

by John Feffer, Stephen Zunes | Sep 13, 2006

Despite promises from the White House that the address to the nation on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy would be non-political, President George W. Bush devoted much the speech to defending his unrelated policy on Iraq.

The Economic Impact of Going to War with Iraq

by Miriam Pemberton | Sep 1, 2002

I want to begin with two caveats. The first is that if attacking Iraq clearly fell into the category of a just war, we should of course spend whatever it would take to wage it. Providing for the common defense is our government’s first mandate. But by my reckoning our government has not remotely made the case that this would in fact be a just war. I’ll just mention quickly a couple of reasons, which the president’s speech yesterday at the UN did not change.