"No One Can Force Vietnam to Choose Sides": Vietnam as a Self-Reliant Middle Power

In the past few years, Vietnam has been increasingly labeled as a middle power. Vietnam’s emerging middle-power status coincides with a shifting strategic environment marked by China’s expansionism that has nudged Vietnam toward closer U.S. relations. However, Vietnam’s persistent foreign policy of self-reliance and independence, informed by the country’s historical experiences and concerns over regime security, ensures that Hanoi stays nonaligned. Thus, while retaining autonomy in developing closer U.S. ties, Vietnam strikes a delicate balance between the two superpowers. Instead of relying on a single security guarantor, Vietnam has actively sought to promote rules-based principles and multilateralism in advancing its national interests, particularly vis-à-vis the South China Sea and the Mekong River. However, external and internal developments have strained Vietnam’s ability to balance between the two superpowers.