Going to college has never been as popular in Vietnam as it is now. The number of students in higher education has skyrocketed from 133,000 students in 1987 to 2.12 million students in 2015—nearly a sixteen-fold increase over less than thirty years. This increase in education has provided the human capital necessary for Vietnam to […]
Tag: Kim Jong Un
“His Excellency Donald Trump,” Vietnam’s Newest Ally
President Trump’s travels to Europe are unfailingly met with the angry protests of our democratic counterparts across the pond. From the thousands of protesters in the streets of Germany voicing their displeasure with Trump’s attendance at the G20 summit to the tantrum-throwing-baby balloon floating over Parliament during his trip to London, it seems as if […]
Whither Vietnam? A Q&A with Professor T.J. Pempel
In light of Donald Trump’s recent Hanoi summit with Kim Jong Un, Caleb Groen asks Professor T.J. Pempel how the Vietnamese communist party liberalized the economy while retaining its hold on power.
To Engage or Not to Engage: Diplomacy with North Korea?
Editors’ disclaimer: this debate was crafted during early 2018, before the development of new events between North and South Korea’s possible peace treaty that would formally end the Korean War. The contents discussed in the debate below ought to be evaluated as if such a groundbreaking event has yet to occur. RESOLVED: The United States […]
The Waning Hermit Kingdom (Part I): A Faltering Kim-Regime
When tensions rose along the Korean Peninsula this past August, it was not military provocation, but South Korean speakers blaring anti-North Korean propaganda that spurred Pyongyang to declare a quasi-state of war. The recent clash between the Koreas involved their first major armed encounter in five years. However, unlike previous military aggression from the Hermit […]