APL (Ajiken Power Lunch)

APL (Ajiken Power Lunch) is a lunchtime workshop open to public, including IDE staffs, visiting research fellows, IDEAS students, outside researchers and graduate students. This workshop provides a platform for presentation of any work in progress where we can discuss in either English or Japanese.

 Those who would attend a seminar are asked to announce yourself to receptionists on your arrival at the IDE and to obtain APL Organizers' signature on your admission card after the seminar.

October 31, 2017. (Tuesday) 12：30-14：00

Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization C23 Meeting Room 　

After Dung: Navigating the Uncertain State and Direction of Vietnam's politics

Vietnam's politics have veered away from the comparatively loose and unwarrantedly optimistic era of Nguyen Tan Dung era and (seemingly) toward a period of securtization under the direction of Nguyen Phu Trong and likeminded elements within the Party. This movement, which if anything has seemed to gain momentum over the course of the current year, is seen not only high profile demotions, arrests (and abductions), and sentencings of Party personnel, but also in an ongoing crackdown on dissidents and dissent both within and outside the ambit of the Party State. In a climate of regional insecurity and global tension, the political mood in Vietnam is dour even by Vietnamese standards, while the inner workings of elite politics remain as opaque as ever. Disciplinary forces within the Party do indeed appear to have gained the upper hand. But it is far from clear these forces are coherent or whether they have a coherent vision for the country's future, let alone productive ideas about the challenges Vietnam faces domestically, in the region, and beyond. Addressing these points, this seminar will put forward an analysis of Vietnam's recent political development, suggesting ways of understanding current dynamics in a way that might be useful for actors interested in understanding and engaging with Vietnam.

Jonathan London (Leiden University）

Futaba Ishizuka

English