"Vietnam’s Sole Military Ally" Topic

"Does Vietnam have a military ally? The country's famous "Three Nos" defense policy – no military alliances, no foreign military bases on Vietnamese territory, and no reliance on any country to combat others – says that it does not. Indeed, since the end of the Cold War, Vietnam has embraced a multi-vector diplomacy: trying to improve relations with the major powers and participating in multilateral institutions while shunning signing Cold War-style military alliances in a bid to avoid abandonment.

While scholars pay much attention to Vietnam's eastern flank – the South China Sea – many forget that Vietnam's western flank is also key to its national security. It is also home to Vietnam's sole military ally in the post-Cold War era. Vietnam signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with Laos in 1977, around the same time that Vietnam inked another Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with the Soviet Union in 1978. The Vietnam-Laos Treaty is still in effect today and on its 35th anniversary in 2012, the Central Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) described the pact as a "defense treaty." Three years later, Vietnam's Ministry of Defense referred to the Treaty as a "mutual defense pact." The existence of Vietnam's sole military alliance contradicts the argument that Vietnam will not join an alliance because it wants be preserve its leeway under the "Three Nos" policy. Hence, it is important to dissect why the Vietnam-Laos alliance has survived the end of the Cold War and continues to be important today…"
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