Vol 5, No 4 (2021)

The article discusses the formation and deepening of the strategic partnership between Japan and Vietnam, the structural characteristics of relations in the spheres of politics and security, as well as the commonality of interests and the limits of rapprochement between the two countries. The comprehensive improvement of Japanese-Vietnamese relations is based on a combination of strategic and economic interests. The first part of the article is devoted to the key trends in the development of relations between Japan and Vietnam. The second part defines areas of convergence of interests and constraints on the path of further rapprochement between Tokyo and Hanoi. The author makes the assumption that the strategic cooperation between the two countries will continue to expand in the future due to the fact that it is based on a broad coincidence of mutual interests, both strategic and economic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has already produced considerable changes in all aspects of an economy. Being an economy with a high degree of trade openness, Vietnam has maintained extensive trade relations with many partners. In the context of a global pandemic, Vietnam’s economy has been severely affected. Therefore, this article focuses on analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the aspects such as gross domestic product (GDP) growth, foreign trade, tourism, unemployment rate, and enterprises’ operation, and raising some prospects of Vietnam’s economy.

The 16th – 18th centuries were widely known as a fascinating period of Vietnamese history. It was characterized by the division between North (Đàng Ngoài) and South of the country (Đàng Trong) and the civil war accordingly between the Trinh Lords and the Nguyen Lords. It also witnessed the most vibrant cultural exchange and integration of feudal states in Vietnamese medieval times. With their well-defined vision and effective maritime trade strategies, the Nguyen Lords have actively promoted cultural and economic exchange in the region and to the world. The seaports along the coast of South Vietnam have become a central gateway for these activities. The current research is an attempt to give a vivid picture of the dynamic trading environment in Thuan Quang – the biggest province in this part of the country. A critical reassessment of the Nguyen Lords’ integration policies will also be presented.

Ivan Bunin was the first Russian writer, who won the Nobel Prize in literature. However, Vietnamese readers knew him rather late: it was in 1987 that stories by the famous master of artistic language were translated into Vietnamese for the first time. So, as compared with other Russian classics, the history of perception of Bunin's work in Vietnam is not very long. His works are still little-known to a broad readership, but at the same time, the writer managed to gain recognition by “elitist” Vietnamese reader. This article analyses the features of perception of Ivan Bunin’s work (on the whole, his stories) in the “elitist” Vietnamese readership, from the time of publication of his stories in Vietnamese up to 2019. The basis of the analyses are articles and researches on the writer’s work, including senior theses and master’s theses by graduates of higher education institutes, as well as Bunin’s works’ translations into Vietnamese.

The survey presents organizers, participants and the main themes of the discussions on the state of the Russian-Vietnamese strategic partnership, held in Moscow by RAS IFE and in Hanoi by the Institute of European Studies of VASS in early December 2021. It analyzes the reports on the state and perspectives of bilateral cooperation in the crucial spheres, such as political, military-technical, socio- economic, scientific-technical, cultural and educational ones. The evaluation was of objective character: the experts noted both the achievements and the shortcomings, showed the existing hardships and explained their causes. Criticism prevailed; the common conclusion (while the approaches of the sides differed appreciably) was the acknowledgement of still existing serious problems in the crucial spheres of relations (especially in trade-economic relations), the determination of their current stage, which is the durability test in the conditions of the two worlds’ growing confrontation. The discussions in RAS and VASS have contributed to the search of the ways to rise strategic partnership of Russia and Vietnam to the appropriate level.

The article presents the survey of the reports on Vietnam delivered at the All-Russian scientific-practical conference of the 7th Guber’s scientific readings “Southeast Asia: Historical Past and Current Reality” held from October 5 to 6, 2021. Researchers of different academic, research and training institutes took part in the conference hosted by the Chair of History of the Far Eastern and Southeast Asian countries of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (IAAS MSU). Numerous reports were devoted to Vietnam; the subjects of the papers varied, which allowed to show various sides of such an interesting country.

The review is given on the book “Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945–1975” by the English historian and publicist Max Hastings. The author builds the history of the struggle of the Vietnamese people against the French colonialists and American imperialists based on extensive factual evidence. Anti-communist beliefs do not allow the author to fully appreciate the role of the Viet Minh front and the Vietnamese communists in the victory over the French, but he recognizes the enormous authority of Ho Chi Minh. Objectively depicting the anti-national character of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam and the American “aid”, the English journalist confirms with his book the main lesson of the Vietnam War, which proves that the internal political problems of another country cannot be solved by an outside invasion.