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Guest Forum

Guest Forum

Will Vietnam Follow Myanmar’s Path Toward Reform?

(Loc Doan) The intellectual battle over the future of American hegemony has been joined, with some arguing that the American Century has ended, and others claiming that U.S. military and economic advantage are likely to persist. The debate is complicated by a number of factors, however. Shifts in hegemony rarely come with a herald, and U.S. choices can still either extend American hegemony, or hasten (...) (10/03/2012)


Vietnam’s Land Hero

(Luke Hunt) - Land disputes are crowded with environmentalists, farmers and greedy developers who work hand in glove with local politicians. Clashes have persistently tested Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and demand from the likes of palm oil plantations is as strong as the loggers’ ability to fell (...) (23/02/2012)


Hanoi Plays Hide the Dissident

(Wall Street Journal) - Hanoi purports to want closer relations with Washington as a counterbalance to Beijing’s rising assertiveness in the South China Sea. Washington says it wants Hanoi to improve its human-rights record. Which means both sides face a new test in dissident Bui Thi Minh (...) (13/01/2012)


Testimony at the Sixth Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders

(Huynh Van Dong) - Invited to the Sixth Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders by Front Line, human rights lawyer Huynh Van Dong found himself barred from leaving Vietnam. In a written testimony to Front Line, Huynh Van Dong writes about the miscarriages of justice and the difficulties of legal profession (...) (27/09/2011)


Statement at the Global Summit Against Discrimination and Persecution

(Tran Khai Thanh Thuy) - Novelist and democracy activist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy addresses the 2011 Global Summit Against Discrimination and Persecution in the panel "Women of Courage: The Struggle for Human Dignity" in New York City. (26/09/2011)


The attorney profession in Vietnam

(Huynh Van Dong) - In the course of practicing law, I discovered a painful truth that I once wanted to leave the attorney profession. The Laws of Vietnam are being applied illegally by Vietnamese agencies conducting proceedings, particularly in political cases. I have been involved in many political cases from (...) (20/07/2011)


Vietnam as Tunisia in waiting

(Adam Boutzan) - Successful rebellions are inherently unpredictable. The middle-class revolt that recently toppled the Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali regime in Tunisia can only be explained in retrospect; hardly anyone, apparently, saw it coming. Analysts now are pointing to the combustible mix of too many educated (...) (3/02/2011)


A Journey to Vietnam

(Rolin Wavre) - October 11, 2010 The trip Geneva-Zurich: twelve hours on board the enormous A380 Airbus almost gives the impression of not being in the air. And four more hours in one of the temples of consumerism: Singapore airport is completely dedicated to shopping( mostly electronics and designer (...) (22/11/2010)


Internet Country Spotlight : Vietnam

(Movements.org) - Even as the number of internet users in Vietnam reaches a critical mass, the state has ramped up efforts to control content on the web and repress activists and dissidents. Vietnamese authorities are using sections of the state penal code to clamp down on the freedom of expression and punish (...) (10/11/2010)


Bloggers detained ... but others write on

(CNN) - By Salma Abdelaziz October 10, 2010 (CNN) — Across the world blogging has become a way of spreading your message but for some that message can cost them their freedom. From Iran to Vietnam, bloggers take risks going online to spread news and views authorities have no wish to see or hear. In (...) (11/10/2010)