Vietnam’s foreign policy: A new mindset and a new height
WVR -The 14th National Party Congress clearly set out the requirements to elevate Vietnam’s foreign affairs, building a comprehensive, modern diplomacy that plays a key and regular role, proactively creates and contributes to shaping the international environment in a manner conducive to safeguarding and advancing national interests.
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| General Secretary To Lam chairs an international press conference announcing the results of the 14th National Party Congress, January 23, 2026. (Photo: Quang Hoa) |
In peacetime, diplomacy must take the lead, "early and from afar", to prevent conflicts and push back wars, as President Ho Chi Minh skillfully used diplomacy in 1945-1946 to prolong peace for the country, preparing for an inevitable conflict with French colonialists.
In the 1980s, diplomacy was at the forefront of helping the country escape isolation and embargo. Over the past 40 years of renovation and international integration, diplomacy has made significant contributions to successfully implementing an open foreign policy, diversifying and multilateralizing relations, creating a peaceful environment, and attracting external resources to develop the country and enhance Vietnam's position on the international stage.
A foremost strategic tool
As the country enters a new era – an era of rising and accelerating development to achieve the goal of becoming a developed industrial nation by 2045, the 14th National Party Congress has determined that foreign affairs and diplomacy must be elevated to a new height, corresponding to the historical, cultural, and new position of the country.
Diplomacy must be a foremost strategic tool, playing a key and regular role, on par with national defense and security in safeguarding peace, stability, and prosperous development of the country.
Diplomacy at a new height is a diplomacy that plays a pioneering role in establishing and maintaining a peaceful environment, protecting the nation early and from afar, before any threats arise; leading in promoting international integration, mobilizing resources, especially science and technology from abroad, to develop the country; and pioneering in enhancing Vietnam's position, prestige, and role in global politics, the world economy, and human civilization.
Diplomacy at a new height is no longer just adapting to the international environment but must be elevated to a diplomacy capable of shaping the international and regional environment. Resolution 59 of the Politburo in 2025 emphasized the requirement for Vietnam to participate more proactively and responsibly in regional and global mechanisms, gradually contributing to and shaping international rules, shifting strongly from a state of "participation and adaptation" to a mindset of "proactive creation and contribution".
Comprehensive across all dimensions
Diplomacy in the new era must continue to be a comprehensive diplomacy that has been practically implemented for over 15 years but must be elevated to a new height to meet new demands, as international relations have become increasingly diverse, multidimensional, multi-actor, multi-field, with many social components participating, requiring a comprehensive, integrated, interdisciplinary approach for effective foreign affairs and also to apply historical lessons of leveraging combined strength, combining national strength with the strength of the times.
Comprehensive diplomacy is first reflected in the subjects and forces participating in foreign affairs. The 13th Party Congress identified building a comprehensive, modern diplomacy with three main pillars: Party diplomacy, State diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy.
Diplomacy is no longer the sole responsibility of one sector but is a coordination of the entire political system, where the Party plays a leading role, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plays a key, professional role, while the National Assembly, ministries, localities, and social organizations play coordinating roles, each force having its own role but coordinating harmoniously, unified in goals and actions.
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| General Secretary To Lam meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the occasion of his official visit to Vietnam and the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime (Hanoi Convention), October 25, 2025. (Source: Nhan Dan Newspaper) |
Comprehensiveness is also reflected in the scope and areas of activity, encompassing all countries, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, transnational corporations, researchers... across all continents, with priority given to neighbours, major countries, traditional friends, and potential partners.
Comprehensiveness is demonstrated through implementation methods: Bilateral diplomacy plays a key role in promoting relations with countries, while multilateral diplomacy plays a main role in enhancing the country's position and needs to be elevated, not just participating but proactively building and shaping the "rules of the game" at regional and global forums (United Nations, ASEAN, APEC...), as directed by the Secretariat's directive 25 in 2018.
Especially, it is also comprehensive in terms of fields and tools, including: Political diplomacy; economic - science and technology diplomacy; cultural diplomacy and external communication; work with the Vietnamese community abroad.
Among them, economic and technology diplomacy is identified as a spearhead and a driving force for the country's rapid and sustainable development, initially serving the goal of double-digit growth, supporting the four major transformations of the country (digital, green, energy, growth model), with particular emphasis on connecting with major technology corporations in AI, semiconductors, quantum.
Resolution 59 of the Politburo clearly states that the task of economic diplomacy is to fully leverage the potential of signed free trade agreements, expand and access potential markets (Middle East, Latin America, Central Asia...), promote market, product, supply chain diversification, support Vietnamese enterprises to deeply participate in the global production and supply chain.
Technology diplomacy must focus on strengthening international cooperation on strategic technology; attracting Vietnamese experts and intellectuals to contribute to national development; and building a global science and technology partner network.
Building a cadre contingent with both political Integrity and professional competence
To realize the role of comprehensive diplomacy at a new height, synchronized solutions are needed from awareness, institutions to building a professional foreign affairs cadre: There needs to be a unified awareness throughout the political system about the mission and foreign affairs objectives according to the 14th Party Congress's guidelines. The foreign policy of the Party needs to be quickly institutionalized into the State's legal documents. It is necessary to urgently build modern foreign affairs infrastructure, promote digital transformation and apply artificial intelligence in diplomatic work.
Especially, to have comprehensive diplomacy at a new height, there must first be a corresponding diplomatic personnel team. This must be a contingent of qualified cadres with both political integrity and professional competence, with strong political courage, loyal to national interests, while having strategic thinking, deep professional expertise, good foreign language skills, and the ability to quickly adapt to global changes.
Diplomatic personnel in the new era cannot only excel in protocol, documentation, or negotiation, but must be "policy architects", capable of research, analysis, forecasting, and proposing strategic solutions. They need to have a deep understanding of international economics, international law, and even new fields such as science - technology, data, digital culture, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, green transformation, and supply chains.
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| Comprehensive diplomacy at a new height is a continuation but at a higher level of Vietnam's diplomacy in the era of renovation and integration. (Source: VGP) |
Building the cadre must start from the selection, training, nurturing, and rotation of personnel in a substantive, multi-disciplinary direction, creating conditions for diplomatic personnel to be trained in practice, experiencing diverse environments from bilateral to multilateral, from politics to economics, culture, technology, and work with overseas Vietnamese abroad.
Strength is the "gong", diplomacy is the "sound". Only when the diplomatic team has solid strength can Vietnam's diplomatic voice resonate far, helping the country confidently rise to stand shoulder to shoulder with the world's powers.
In summary, comprehensive diplomacy at a new height is a continuation but at a higher level of Vietnam's diplomacy in the era of renovation and integration, where foreign affairs not only aim to adapt to global changes but also proactively contribute to creating a peaceful environment, maximizing development resources, and enhancing the country's position and prestige.
To achieve this, unified leadership from the Party, synchronized coordination of the entire political system, participation of all sectors, levels, and forces, along with a foreign affairs cadre with sufficient courage, intelligence, vision, and action capability are required.
