Abstract
The historic end of the Cold War and the rising tide of globalization have significantly changed the nature of threats and security discourses in Asia. There is a notable shift of attention from military power as the core determinant of national security to several non-traditional sectors with a much enhanced role of economic, political, and societal forces. Non-traditional security issues—such as climate change, natural disasters, transnational crimes, and terrorism—require both policymakers and military strategists to deal with security threats in a more comprehensive manner. Increasing interdependence among states also magnifies the impacts of these threats, urging Asian countries to forge regional cooperation in multilateral forums such as ASEAN, EAS, APEC, and ARF. Though these efforts are commendable, their effectiveness in tackling such a wide canvass of threats is still open to question.
What is more worrying to Asia is the resurgence of border disputes and nationalism. Territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea have “doubled” the risks for several Asian countries, including Vietnam. Having been troubled by the global economic meltdown and the creeping effects of climate change, Vietnam must confront the rising challenges of conflicting claims in the South China Sea and water security in the Mekong region. This paper aims to analyze how Vietnamese official perceptions of national security challenges have changed over the last few years, identify the three most daunting security challenges to Vietnam in the year 2012, and study its implications for the defense sector and the future of regional cooperation.
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