Einblick ins Vorlesungsverzeichnis: The conflict in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific strategies

17. März 2022, von AAI Webmaster

Foto: pixabay

Dieses Vertiefungsseminar der Vietnamistik findet im Sommersemester online und als Blockseminar statt.

Putin’s brutal war in the Ukraine has caught Vietnamese communist leaders on the wrong foot. In the UN General Assembly debate on the Ukraine resolution (ES11/1, March 2, 2022), the Vietnamese ambassador Đặng Hoàng Giang stressed Vietnam’s consistent stance of settling international disputes by peaceful means on the basis of respect for international law and the UN Charter, especially the principle of respect for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of nations, without interference in internal affairs and the use of force in international relations. This can be regarded as an open support for paragraph 1 of the resolution and hence a veiled condemnation of Russia. However, Vietnam was, alongside China and India, one of the 35 nations which abstained from the vote condemning Russia’s aggression.

A new cold era war emerged on February 24, 2022. On the one hand there is aggressive Russia, which is Vietnam’s largest arms seller, and Communist China, ideologically and politically close both to Russia and to Vietnamese Communist Party conservatives like General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, who currently dominate the leadership. China is, in the same time, the greatest risk to Vietnam‘s national security, especially as far as the conflict in the South China Sea is concerned. The US, which in recent times could be used as a counterweight against Chinese pressure, is now on the other side of the fence. Can Vietnam continue its seesaw policy between Red China and the US, or will both powers force it to take sides? Has Vietnam now to make major concessions in the South China Sea? Or is exactly the fear of an even more uninhibited China strengthening the influence of the pro-Western ‘reformers’ within the leadership?

Since 2017, quite a few “Indo-Pacific strategies” have been presented by Australia, India, the US, France and ASEAN. All of these mentioned strategies have a common core – the fear of a rising and hegemonistic China. The fear, however, seems to appear in different nuances. The seminar will concentrate on Vietnam’s and ASEAN’s views and policies with regard to the different Indo-Pacific strategies. What does the term “ASEAN centrality” mean in reality? Is it an empty word, a lofty aim, or has it a practical importance?

Some bibliographical notes

Engelbert, Thomas (ed.). The South China Sea Conflict after the Arbitration of July 12, 2016. Analyses and Perspectives. Berlin: Peter Lang, 2019.

Wacker, Heidrun und Heiduk, Felix. From Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific: significance, implementation, and challenge. (Forschungsbericht). In: Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Social Sciences Open Access Repository (http:/nbn-resolving.org/um:nbn:de:0168ssoar-69352-6).

Seminar dates

• Tuesday, April 12, 2022: 18-20 (Introduction in the topic)
• Tuesday, April 19, 2022: 18-20 (Seminar)
• Tuesday, April 26, 2022: 18-20 (Seminar)
• Friday, June 24, 2022: 10-16 (Student presentations)
• Saturday, June 25, 2022: 10-16 (Student presentations)
  
  

Unter der Veranstaltungsnummer 57-305 ist eine Anmeldung zu diesem Seminar auf STiNE möglich. Mehr Informationen zu diesem und anderen Kursen finden sich außerdem im aktuellen Vorlesungsverzeichnis.