Vietnam in a Changing World (1986–90)

Abstract

In the global context of détente the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has occupied a position that is both unique and instructive. Its communist regime achieved power through two successive wars (from 1945 to 1954 and from 1959 to 1975) in which it became vitally dependent on its larger communist allies. Throughout the second war a leading figure in the Vietnamese Workers’ (later Communist) Party had been Le Duan. He was made First Secretary in 1960, and nine years later became the Party’s effective leader as successor to Ho Chi Minh. He retained power until his political demise in May 1986, followed by his death in July. His disappearance could not but be a landmark in Vietnamese history. He had controlled the secretariat for a quarter of a century, and had increasingly come to dominate national affairs in spite of never having held a state position throughout his career. Between 1960 and 1975 he had been foremost among advocates of armed struggle against the American presence in South Vietnam. During his last decade in power (1976–86) he led a reunified Vietnam into an ever closer relationship with the Soviet Union¹ and he became associated with a policy of ensuring Vietnamese domination of Laos and of Cambodia, on the basis of cooperation agreements and frequent meetings to coordinate the policies of the ‘three Indo-Chinese peoples’.