The past several months have seen some remarkable developments in Vietnam’s domestic politics. In mid-January, Nguyen Xuan Phuc became the first state president in the country’s history to resign in the middle of his term, following two deputy prime ministers – and dozens of lower level government officials and party apparatchiks – out the door.
The resignations have been linked to the Communist Party of Vietnam’s wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign, but is there more to this purge of the upper echelons of the Vietnamese party state? And how might these changes in Vietnamese politics affect the country’s foreign policy and attractiveness as a destination for foreign investment? In case you missed our live discussion on March 7, you can check out the recording here. Featuring Linh Nguyen, an associate director in the Southeast Asia Business Intelligence practice, at Control Risks based in Singapore; Dr. Hai Hong Nguyen, an honorary research fellow at the Centre for Policy Futures, University of Queensland; and Dr. Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College, in Washington, D.C.; and moderated by Sebastian Strangio, The Diplomat’s Southeast Asia editor.