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The United States and Vietnam: Three Years After Normalization
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The process of fully normalizing relations between the US and Vietnam is moving forward. But the pace is slower than many interested parties would like.

A quarter century after the end of the war and three years after reestablishing diplomatic relations, some of the mistrust from the war years still lingers. Both sides—but particularly the Vietnamese—periodically sense hostility and wonder about the ultimate goals of their counterpart. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing dialogue between the two countries and a process for addressing bilateral issues that in many respects is typical of any country-to-country relationship. US-Vietnam relations were the topic of a Stanley Foundation conference held last December.

Economics and Politics
At the top of the two countries' agenda is the negotiation of a bilateral trade agreement and the extension of Most-Favored Nation status to Vietnam. Vietnam is a poor and heavily populated country; its 80 million people have a per capita income of $320 per year. US-Vietnam trade is very modest, and US investment in that economy is still small.

From the US side of things, economics alone cannot drive the relationship. But the US has an interest in peace and stability in Southeast Asia and wants Vietnam contributing to that.

Conference participants said the negotiation of the terms of the trade agreement is difficult in and of itself. But reaching an agreement is also complicated by its implicit relationship to US concerns over human rights, workers' rights, and religious freedom issues.

Politically, Vietnam and the US share a wariness about China, Vietnam's neighbor. Participants observed that in the complex, tripartite relationship, Vietnam slides back and forth between the two large powers depending on how its relationship with the other is going.

Legacy of the War
Perhaps surprisingly, contacts between military officials from Vietnam and the US have proceeded quite well. In fact, one participant said these contacts are "a cornerstone of the relationship."

Those contacts had their beginning in the effort to deal with one of the legacies of the war—the search for the remains of US soldiers missing-in-action (MIA). While the MIA issue is still important to the US, it does not have the overwhelming power to dominate the relationship as it once did.

Another thorny issue left over from the war is the problem with Agent Orange—the defoliant US forces used. There is interest in both countries in a research program on the long-term effects of Agent Orange because military and civilian personnel on both sides were affected. Beyond research, however, the Vietnamese are interested in getting humanitarian assistance from the US because of the high incidence of birth defects found in areas where the defoliant was used.

The Way Ahead
Groups in the US interested in Vietnam are not as focused now as they were several years ago when they were pressing for political normalization. Nevertheless, participants identified a lengthy series of recommendations for improving relations. Among them are:

• Both countries should show flexibility in reaching a trade agreement.
• Visits should be intensified by cabinet officials, members of Congress, and eventually the president.
• New effort should be put into educational, professional, academic, and nongovernmental exchanges.