Vietnam is now considered to be a potential ally of the United States, especially in the geopolitical context of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and in the containment of Chinese expansionism.
Vietnam has forged comprehensive strategic partnerships — the highest diplomatic designation — with China, India, Russia, and, most recently, South Korea. Many of Vietnam's strategic partners are U.S. allies, such as Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Despite initial mistrust and antipathy after the Vietnam War, the two countries were able to build a constructive partnership through a confidence-building road map, improve cooperation on issues of concern, and develop a willingness to address war legacy issues.
Ho Chi Minh was a committed communist from the 1920s. He was persecuted for it and yet stuck to his guns. And however much he may have liked America's anti-colonial history, he could never have been a sincere partner for the US. The anti-communist forces in South Vietnam were much more natural partners for the US.
Vietnam has maintained a neutral stance on the Russo-Ukrainian War since 2014, and this stance has remained following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Vietnam and Russia
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, friendly relations were established between Vietnam and the Russian Federation, the USSR's main successor state. Nearly 5% of the official count of the Vietnamese population in Russia is composed of students with Russian government scholarships.
You could say that the war with Ukraine is turning out to be the Russian's Vietnam. Casualties are building for both nations, but the Ukrainians, like North Vietnam, do not appear ready to concede defeat. There are some rumblings in the U.S. political scene that supporting Ukraine is getting too expensive.
The two countries officially normalized diplomatic ties in 1991. Although both sides have since worked to improve their diplomatic and economic ties, the two countries remain in dispute over political and territorial issues in the South China Sea (or East Sea).
The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. This includes all United Nations members and observer states other than Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Syria, and the UN observer State of Palestine, the last of which the U.S. does not recognize.
The Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File of the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Extract Files contains records of 58,220 U.S. military fatal casualties of the Vietnam War.
Cooperative relations are maintained today, although no formal security treaties bind the two countries. The U.S. and Indonesia share the common goal of maintaining peace, security, and stability in the region and engaging in a dialogue on threats to regional security.
China had become communist in 1949 and communists were in control of North Vietnam. The USA was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and then the rest of Asia. It decided to send money, supplies and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese Government.
The Lao PDR and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, ASEAN Regional Forum, Mekong-U.S. Partnership, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and World Bank. The Lao PDR is a member of ASEAN and the United States is a Dialogue Partner.
Vietnam's partnership with Russia was borne out of hard national security interests. During the Cold War, Moscow supported Vietnamese anti-colonialists to oust France, and later assisted the Vietnamese communists' fight against the US military and its South Vietnam ally to reunify the nation.
Vietnam is now considered to be a potential ally of the United States, especially in the geopolitical context of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and in the containment of Chinese expansionism.
Vietnam Emerges As India's Most Trusted Ally In South-East Asia Thanks To China. If one goes by the statements of Indian leaders and officials in recent years, it becomes apparent that Vietnam is India's “most trusted friend and ally” in Southeast Asia.
Top Russian allies include China, India, and Belarus. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has transformed geopolitics, uniting the West against Russia and reigniting talk of a new cold war or even a third world war. But Russia is not as isolated as the global outcry suggests.
The United States has bilateral relations with many countries in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. also has treaty allies – Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia and Thailand.
Taiwan–Vietnam relations are conducted on an unofficial level, as Hanoi adheres to a one-China policy and officially recognises the People's Republic of China only. However, this has not stopped bilateral visits, immigration and investment capital between Taiwan and Vietnam.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Beijing's propaganda expressed it to be “a natural ally of the oppressed peoples of the world in their struggle for national liberation,” justifying efforts to help North Vietnam.
As the world's largest communist powers, both the Soviet Union and China gave moral, logistic and military support to North Vietnam. They hoped to build and expand communism in the Asia.
Over a dozen Soviet soldiers lost their lives in this conflict. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian Federation officials acknowledged that the Soviet Union had stationed up to 3,000 troops in Vietnam during the war.
While the United States was publicly engaged in the Vietnam War, a secret conflict was raging just next door in the country of Laos. Under the command of the CIA, a full-blown military operation engulfed Laos, with a select few of the U.S. Armed Forces participating.
As the original communist state, the Soviet Union aided North Vietnam, with increasing support in the late 1960s. While the U.S.S.R. supplied some troops, their biggest contribution was in weaponry.