EMORY, Virginia – Emory & Henry’ College’s Emory Abroad Program is for the first time ever taking students over to Vietnam to study the Vietnamese economy and to observe their schools. Dr. Deborah Spencer will be taking her a few of her economic classes, and Dr. Sarah Fisher will be taking a few of her political science classes.
In 1954, America went to war with Vietnam and it lasted 20 years. That made for the Vietnamese and Americans to not be friends in any way, shape, of form. According to The Christian Science Monitor, “I believe enemies can one day become friends," says Xuan, a young Vietnamese executive.
More so in the younger generation of the Vietnamese than in the older generation, there is no resent towards Americans about the war that “killed millions of Vietnamese” and “58,000 Americans,” says Elisabeth Rosen in The Atlantic.
Dr. Spencer has been to the country in the last year to take a look at the environment, the economy, the landscapes, the culture, the schools, and other places that she wants to take her students.
“There was no feeling of animosity, even at the war museum, because people are there, the people who go there are interested in history and understanding the past… I felt just the opposite of people being rude to me. I felt like, almost like a rock star. I was not expecting that at all… My conclusion is that they see the presence of an American as a hopeful sign of the future.” says Dr. Spencer, Assistant Professor of Economics.
During the Vietnam War, Vietnam’s economy was not doing well. Currently, the country is going through an economic transition, much like China and Russia did at one point. The country is going from a centrally planned typed economy to a more open market economy transition. This process started in 1986, it’s called Doi Moi.
According to Stratfor, from the adoption of Doi Moi in 1986 by the CPV’s Sixth National Congress to present day, Vietnam's economy has transformed from a centrally planned model to market oriented with four characterized sub-periods. We divide the sub-periods based on the economy's entrepreneurial perspectives, emerging cultural values, the building of market economy, and attitude toward global geopolitics and economics.
“It’s been 20 years of economic renovation. The economy is growing fast compared to developed world, but that’s true for all emerging economies. They are allowing more and are engaged in more trade with the United States. They signed a trade agreement, bi-lateral trade agreement with the U.S. in 2001,” says Spencer.
Saigon city, which is now known as Ho Chi Minh City, is in South Vietnam and on April 30, 1975 the city fell to North Vietnam. This marked the end of the Vietnam War, according to The History Learning Site.
“The United States tried defending Ho Chi Minh City against the North Vietnamese. They were invading the southern part of their own country in order to unify it into a communist state,” Spencer states.
It’s been 41 years since the Vietnam War has ended and just like any other country, Vietnam still has issues. From government issues to freedom of religion, one issue that stands as an after effect of war and Doi Moi is energy and the environment.
According to The Asia Foundation, the energy sector is still locked into a reliance on coal, a dwindling national resource, and opposed to wind and solar, regarded as too costly. Socio-economic development planning at the provincial level is often aspirational, target driven, and out of step with the new realities of climate change. Influential corporations seem to be able to circumvent environmental regulations when their projects are favored by political insiders. And the private sector has not been fully engaged in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
If there was one thing Spencer was sure to make clear was that not at anytime during her trip did she ever feel unsafe.
“I was treated very well. Everyone was very friendly. Not at anytime did I feel unsafe. I wouldn’t travel around the outskirts by myself, but it would be like that in any given city or situation,” says Spencer.
Although in most Asian countries there is a lot of smog due to factories, Vietnam was different, according to Spencer.
“It wasn’t dirty at all. Well, it was as dirty as a city gets, much like New York City or Chicago. Other than that, I wouldn’t say it was a dirty country at all, at least the parts I traveled in. It was just very hot, but I was there in May,” says Spencer.
When asking E&H students how they would feel visiting Vietnam for the first time ever since the war, many felt uneasy and possibly unsafe.
“I feel like there would be a lot of resentment. It’s been awhile since the war, but I would still be pretty upset if someone attacked our country and left a mess behind, especially if I had lost a family member in that war. I’ve seen all the documentaries, have read articles, and books about the war and the after effects all through high school, and that honestly has sculpted my view on the country,” says Rachel Haines, a third year religion major on campus.
With media playing a huge influence on the younger generation, it is a big factor on whether or not the millennial generation would visit the country. Never before or since have journalists been given such complete access to cover a war. Unlike previous wars, where only still images or short movie newsreels were available for conveying images, this was America’s first television war, according to History Net.
Ironically, The Vietnam War was only sort of lost in the American media. Until 1968, much of the American media was widely a mouthpiece for American policy and not one newspaper suggested disengagement from Vietnam, according to Business Insider.
Nonetheless, Spencer and Fisher look forward to bringing the students to Vietnam this Spring.