Vietnam–ASEAN Co‑operation after the Cold War and the Continued Search for a Theoretical Framework

Abstract

This article seeks to analyse the strength and weaknesses of the three main international relations (IR) approaches, namely, neo-realist, liberal institutionalist, and constructivist frameworks, applied to the Vietnam-ASEAN relationship since the mid-1980s. While the making and implementation of Vietnamese foreign policy with regard to ASEAN has shown some clues congruent with both neo-realist and liberal institutionalist frameworks, the constructivist approach also seems to have become an increasingly promising one, providing additional explanations to the Vietnam-ASEAN relationship. Yet, to confirm the plausibility and superiority of any theoretical model depends to a large extent on greater efforts at gaining access to and interpreting various types of sources related to the foreign policy of Vietnam.