There are amazing things going on in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; the speedy development and the building of socialism in a country that a mere 30 plus years ago, was one of the poorest countries on earth. While in the past, it was difficult for non-Vietnamese speakers to learn about Vietnam’s path to socialism and the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, today that is changing.
Recently the Communist Party of Vietnam and Vietnamese academics have been publishing an increasing number of works in English and other languages. One of the most important publications was Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s essay titled, Some Theoretical and Practical Issues on Socialism and the Path Towards Socialism in Vietnam. Trong’s essay offers a broad, yet extensive overview of the current situation Vietnam faces on the path to socialism and the Marxist-Leninist roots of the path Vietnam has chosen to follow moving forward. It was of such great importance to the CPV that this essay be accessible to the international community, that great effort was made to make sure it was published in as many languages as possible, and in as many places as possible.
The General Secretary’s essay is the most important, but not the only theoretical article that has been made accessible to the international community. Increasingly, the CPV has been publishing many theoretical articles explaining Vietnam’s policies and ideas on the website of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, SolidnetThe Communist Review. More broadly speaking, some of the most prestigious academic journals in Vietnam -for example Journal of Political Theory and
All this activity begs the question, why has it suddenly become important to the CPV and the government of Vietnam to have their theoretical and intellectual published to a wider, international audience? I believe there are two main reasons for this:
After the illegal dissolution of the USSR, the capitalist states began promoting tons of disinformation around the “end of history” idea. The narrative being pushed can be summed up as Communism was defeated and the remaining socialist states government by Communist Parties had abandoned Marxism-Leninism. They claimed that the governing parties like the Communist Party of Vietnam had embraced capitalism and “were Communist in name only”. For many outside observers who do not understand Vietnam’s doi moi (renovation) process, the socialist-oriented market economy and Vietnam’s global integration, it is easy to be fooled into believing the anti-Communist disinformation and unfortunately many on the right, as well as the opportunists on the left repeat these lies about Vietnam and the CPV every chance they get.
Today, with publications in English and other languages of works like that of General Secretary Trong and the many other theoretical works coming out of Vietnam, the truth is much more accessible to the international community. It has now become harder to discredit the CPV and by extension it has become harder to discredit the broader international Communist movement.
This brings us to the second reason:
In a recent essay titled Inheritance Issue of Human Civilizations Achievements in Building Socialism in Vietnam, published in the Political Theory Journal
In modern history, the Communist Party of Vietnam, following the path of national democratic revolution leading towards socialist revolution under the banner of national independence and socialism based on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, has always viewed the Vietnamese revolution as part and parcel of the global revolution.
He goes on to explain that while the path to socialism in every country will be different because of the distinctive material conditions in each country, it is important for Communists to learn from each other’s experiences and apply the lessons from our comrades around the world that are applicable to our material conditions.
We can now understand that the CPV’s increased publication of theory and other works in English and other languages is an act of internationalism and part of the CPV’s contribution to the International Communist movement. The Communist Party of Vietnam is one of the world’s most successful Communist Parties and Communists around the world can learn from its experiences and successes, despite the varying material conditions from country to country.
As the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people continue on their path of building socialism in Vietnam, we are certain to see an ever-increasing amount of theoretical and practical publications coming out of Vietnam. We in the International Communist movement, living in the age of the internet are being given a unique opportunity to learn from and to understand our Vietnamese comrades. It greatly behooves us to take advantage of this unique chance in history.
