아세안

This study examines the relationship between Vietnamese historical perspectives, images, and public discourses on neighboring countries and Vietnamese governmental decisions on East Asian regional cooperation. For the purpose, this study attempts to explore following four themes. First, based upon the interviews with Vietnamese diplomats, scholars, and governmental officers who are specialized in neighboring Southeast Asian countries, this study seeks to find the typical images, emotions, perspectives that Vietnamese have on neighboring countries and people. Especially, this study focuses on Vietnamese perspectives on four neighboring countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and China. Second, this study examines how Vietnamese explain the historical grounds of their perspectives, images, and emotions on neighboring countries and people. It is explored what kinds of historical facts and events are specifically remembered and constructed to justify their explanations. Third, this study attempts to analyze how their interpretations on regional histories or historical memories on neighboring countries are associated with the contemporary political economic conditions and international environments that Vietnam maintains. Finally, this study explores the implication of Vietnamese (differentiated and hierarchical) historical perspectives on neighboring countries in understanding Vietnamese government's decision makings on East Asian regional cooperation and East Asian community building processes. As a result, this study finds that Vietnamese has distinct consciousness on the power relationship with the neighboring four countries. Vietnamese have a strong belief that they are victors to some countries and victims to other countries. In such a victor/victim framework, Vietnamese describe Lao as a malleable and weak neighbor, Cambodian as a resistant and weak neighbor, Thai as a conflicting and competing neighbor, and Chinese as a dominating and powerful neighbor. This study argues that the hierarchical images on the neighboring countries that Vietnamese have make a conscious and unconscious influence on Vietnamese governmental decision makings on East Asian regional cooperation and East Asian community building processes.