The Russian Journal of Vietnamese Studies

Niche diplomacy is a notable characteristic of the foreign policy of middle powers - states that have the capacity to play a prominent role on the international stage, but are not powerful enough to impose their will on others. Therefore, middle powers need to rely on their ability to identify and fill in “niche spaces” through diplomatic methods and skills, that is, choosing a few specific issues, institutions or areas to specialize in and orient them as important foundations in its foreign policy. Niche diplomacy also contributes to building national brand in international relations. As an emerging middle power with enhanced position and status, Vietnam in recent years has been quite proactive in promoting international cooperation and shaping initiatives in some aspects of niche diplomacy. This article analyzes and evaluates the reality and prospects for promoting Vietnam’s middle power diplomacy in some niches such as international mediation and peacemaking, humanitarian diplomacy, environmental diplomacy and sustainable development, and science diplomacy. The study posits that for Vietnam, developing niche diplomacy will be an important factor contributing to the country’s prosperity and development goals by 2030 and 2045 - the targets that Hanoi has set for the new era - the era of Vietnam’s advancement.

Population ageing has become a major demographic and policy challenge for both developed and developing countries, requiring long-term institutional adaptation rather than short-term sectoral interventions. This article examines population ageing and related policy responses in the Russian Federation and Vietnam from a comparative perspective, with particular attention to their implications for sustainable development. Russia has already entered a more advanced stage of demographic ageing and has accumulated considerable policy experience in fertility support, pension reform, healthcare modernization, social protection, and active ageing. Vietnam, by contrast, is undergoing a much faster ageing transition while still facing more limited fiscal capacity, uneven social security coverage, and incomplete long-term care institutions. Using a qualitative comparative approach based on secondary demographic data, official policy documents, and existing scholarly literature, the study analyzes the main ageing trends, policy instruments, institutional conditions, and development challenges in the two countries. The findings show that population ageing should not be addressed only through pronatalist incentives, pension adjustment, or welfare expansion. Instead, it requires an integrated policy framework combining social protection, preventive healthcare, long-term care, labour-market adaptation, intergenerational solidarity, age-friendly environments, and the development of the silver economy. The comparison suggests that early institutional preparation and cross-sectoral coordination are crucial, but that Vietnam should selectively adapt rather than mechanically replicate Russian experience. The study contributes to the development of socially sustainable policies in countries at different stages of population ageing.

The article is devoted to the history of Soviet‑Vietnamese cooperation in the field of professional choreographic education in the 1950s–1960s. In particular, the participation and personal contribution of Yanina E. Brunak – the first ballet teacher who came from the USSR – to the formation of the Vietnamese choreographic school are examined. Ya.E. Brunak introduced the foundations of the Soviet integrated model of professional choreographic education and helped adapt them to Vietnamese conditions; passed on to Vietnamese colleagues the basics of the Russian ballet school and the methods of teaching European classical dance; established an experimental ballet studio and brought up the first generation of professional performing artists who formed the backbone of the national ballet troupe. Her role in popularizing the achievements of Soviet ballet in Vietnamese society is also significant: she introduced the Vietnamese public to the best works of Soviet ballet art, regularly gave cultural and educational lectures. Ya.E. Brunak laid the foundations of the ballet repertoire for the national theater; outlined the path of self-determination of Vietnamese ballet and outlined possible prospects for its development. The article is the first to use new sources – correspondence with Yu.A. Bakhrushin from the collections of the Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, photo documents from the Karatsentsov family archive, and others. The facts revealed on their basis serve as evidence that the professionalization of Vietnamese dance art and the formation of the Vietnamese school of ballet are directly related to the activities of. Ya.E. Brunak.

One of the most striking features of the religious landscape in post-Renovation Vietnam is the dramatic rise of Protestantism, with house churches as a crucial component. However, there is no consensus on the precise number of Protestants among policymakers, religious institutions, and scholars. Large-scale surveys are rare and often fail to capture the mechanisms behind the explosive growth of Protestant house churches. Based on 49 in-depth interviews and participant observation, this article seeks to explain what led to the emergence and subsequent explosive growth of Protestant house churches in the context of limited religious space in Vietnam. We argue that the growth of house churches in Vietnam can be partly explained by its socio-historical context, organizational structure, and strategies for recruiting new members, promoted by aid from foreign organizations.

The full text of the Joint Statement on Further Strengthening the Russia-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the New Era, published on September 9, 2026, on the occasion of the state visit to the Russian Federation by To Lam, General Secretary of the CC of the CPV and President of the SRV is given.

TThe review focuses on the article collection of Professor of Economics V.M. Mazyrin “Towards progress: Vietnam in XXI century. Research published in 2006-2025” in two volumes which is the result of his 50-year professional activity. The research consists of V.M. Mazyrin’s articles written in various years in which the author analyzes Vietnam’s history, social, economic and political development, as well as main directions of its foreign policy and the international milieu as an external contour in which this policy is implemented. Professor Mazyrin’s reflections on the methodology of Regional Studies make the article collection especially valuable.

The article examines the intellectual and political biography, as well as the international legal doctrine of Nguyễn Quốc Định, an outstanding 20th-century Vietnamese legal scholar and diplomat. It is shown that Nguyễn Quốc Định’s theoretical views were shaped under the influence of French solidarism, yet were distinguished by an aspiration to synthesize the sociological approach with formal legal certainty of legal positivism. His critique of voluntarism, his objectivist conception of the formation of customary norms of international law, and his skeptical attitude towards peremptory principles of international law are analyzed; a critical assessment of these positions is offered. The article concludes on the significance of Nguyễn Quốc Định’s scholarly legacy as an important chapter in the history of global international legal thought and Vietnamese legal science.