Title: Vietnam in 2013: Domestic Contestation and Foreign Policy Success
Author: Carlyle A. Thayer
Source: Southeast Asian Affairs 2014, pp. 353-372.
Introduction
The year 2013 marked the mid-way point in the tenure of the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) Central Committee elected at the eleventh national party congress in 2011. During the year the Central Committee began to assert its prerogative as the party’s executive authority between national party congresses. The Central Committee’s new political assertiveness has been at the expense of party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong and his supporters in the Politburo. The Central Committee’s assertiveness also strengthened the power and influence of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Continue reading “Vietnam in 2013: Domestic Contestation and Foreign Policy Success”