Hoang M Vu

Cornell University, History, Graduate Student

London School of Economics and Political Science, International History, Undergraduate

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Supervisors: Fredrik Logevall, Keith Weller Taylor, Andrew Mertha, and Peter Katzenstein
Address: B20 McGraw Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States

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Book Review: Henry Kissinger's World Order

This long essay seeks to address the many issues raised in World Order and highlighted by the rev... more This long essay seeks to address the many issues raised in World Order and highlighted by the reviewers in three parts. First, I reconstruct the broad sweep of the book’s arguments, point out its various strengths, and explore the overall purpose of the book in the context of Kissinger’s work, life, and times. Second, I explore Kissinger’s descriptions of the three international orders – the Westphalian, the Asian, and the Islamic, arguing that they are somewhat removed from the contemporary academic debates, and ponder over how this should influence the way we read Kissinger’s project. Third, I point out certain flaws in Kissinger’s historical narrative, and contextualize his project from a historian’s perspective. I conclude that while World Order often fails to engage with many of the major academic debates of our time, it remains an important work in the canon of Realism for successfully summarizing Kissinger’s oeuvre in the service of the busy policy practitioner and the interested public.

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Beyond the (Auto)biographies: The Political Thought of Henry Kissinger

By focusing on Kissinger’s more theoretical works, I hope to draw attention to the contributions ... more By focusing on Kissinger’s more theoretical works, I hope to draw attention to the contributions and problems of Kissinger the academic, hidden for so long in plain sight beneath the shadow of his own social clout. First, I provide a thumbnail sketch of Kissinger’s life and times to facilitate thinking about the developments which shaped his political thought. In the main analysis I argue that Kissinger should be best understood as a scholar within the subfield of Foreign Policy Analysis, even though his emphasis on order and shared values among sovereign states is most in tune with Structural Realism, otherwise known as the English School of International Relations. With this radical interpretation, I explore the evolution in the meaning of key concepts that appear again and again throughout Kissinger’s works, including legitimate order, balance of power, revolutionary state, national interest, and leadership. In doing so, I also point out flaws and inconsistencies in Kissinger’s thought, specifically what he acknowledges to be a fundamental difficulty in separating non-revolutionary and revolutionary revisionism before it is too late; the lack of a clear roadmap for building consensus among diverse actors and his summary dismissal of international organizations that are already serving some of that function; his elitism and often downright hostility to democratic processes in the domestic sphere; and a certain cognitive dissonance in his insistence on asserting that American motives are principally noble even while acknowledging the enduring importance of power politics. I trace these flaws back, ultimately, to his quest for redemption, and acknowledge his manifold contributions to American foreign policy and world order.

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Major differences in WTO and ICSID dispute arbitration and their implications for environmental protection

What are the key differences between dispute settlement in the WTO and ICSID investor-state dispu... more What are the key differences between dispute settlement in the WTO and ICSID investor-state dispute settlement? How do you think the characteristics of dispute settlement in each regime have influenced the different ways that trade panels on the one hand, and investment panels on the other, have decided disputes concerning environmental regulation? Illustrate your answer with reference to at least three relevant cases.

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The Missed Chance for US-Vietnam Relations, 1975-1979

After the end of the Vietnam War, both the Vietnamese and American governments wanted to normaliz... more After the end of the Vietnam War, both the Vietnamese and American governments wanted to normalize relations, and yet they failed to do so until 1995. Why was this the case? This paper focuses on the missed chance for normalization of relations between 1975-79. I argue that domestic economic imperatives rather than pride was the primary driver of Vietnam's insistence on postwar reparations. By the time the Chinese-Khmer Rouge threat had driven Vietnamese leaders to drop this condition, American leaders sought to prioritize normalization of relations with Beijing first. I argue that this decision was taken mainly at National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski's own initiative to counterbalance Soviet and Cuban activities in Africa rather than due to Chinese pressure, and that the Carter Administration did not conclusively shelve normalization plans with Vietnam until the Vietnamese invasion and occupation of Cambodia.

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Facing the Inevitable? Vietnam’s Decision to Invade Cambodia, 1977-78

In my undergraduate dissertation I looked at the causes of this conflict, concluding that it was ... more In my undergraduate dissertation I looked at the causes of this conflict, concluding that it was misperception on all sides that was responsible for escalating border clashes. The Khmer Rouge irrationally feared a Vietnamese attempt to swallow up their nation and conducted cross-border raids into southern Vietnam. The Chinese accused Vietnam of mistreating its Chinese minority, became locked in territorial disputes with Vietnam, and grew increasingly alarmed by what they believed to be growing Soviet influence on Vietnamese foreign policy. And the Vietnamese were convinced that China had orchestrated its refugee crisis and were behind the Khmer Rouge attacks, with a two-pronged invasion on the horizon. These misperceptions ultimately convinced Vietnam to conduct a preemptive strike against the Khmer Rouge.

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To what extent and why did Johnson lie when taking the US to war in Vietnam?

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Why was Indochina returned to French control after 1945?

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Hoang M Vu

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