Building the country’s synergy for defending the Fatherland is a basic, consistent viewpoint of our Party and State, stipulated in the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) on Strategy to Safeguard Fatherland in the New Situation. After 10 years of implementing the Strategy, we need to carry out a comprehensive assessment as the basis for formulating effective measures in the upcoming time.

Grasping resolutions and directives of the Party, particularly the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) on  Strategy to Safeguard the Fatherland in the New Situation, over the past 10 years, the entire Party, Military, and people have strived to make a comprehensive positive change in the Fatherland protection cause. Sectors, forces, localities, and the whole political system have adopted synchronous, drastic measures to build and bring into play the synergy for Fatherland protection. As a result, we have mobilised great material and spiritual resources, maintained political stability and a peaceful environment for national construction, guaranteed national independence, sovereignty, unification, territorial integrity, and benefits, and protected the Party, the State, the people, and the socialist regime, which is manifested in the followings:

Sectors, localities, and the entire political system have actively participated in the campaign on building and rectifying the Party in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel. The work of inspection and supervision has been strengthened, the Party’s discipline has been tightened, and the State’s law has been heightened. The fight against corruption, negative practices, and degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle has been stepped up; therefore, the people’s faith in our Party, State, and regime has been strengthened. Theoretical and journalistic work has been unceasingly renewed to contribute to cementing unity within the Party and creating a consensus in the entire society. Economic development has continued to be maintained and obtained many significant achievements. The economy’s competiveness has been improved, while economic potential for defence and security has been enhanced. The effectiveness of combining socio-economic development with defence and security consolidation has been raised. There has been a positive change in cultural, social, and human development, democracy has been promoted, and the people’s material and mental life has improved. The national great unity block has been strengthened and brought into play in the Fatherland protection cause.

Due attention has been paid to consolidating the all-people national defence and the people’s security. The thinking on Fatherland defence has been developed and increasingly complete. The all-people's national defence posture and people’s security posture have been closely combined with each other across the country and in each locality. The People’s Army and the People's Public Security have been made revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, and gradually modernised, with several services, corps, and forces being developed straight to modernity; they have given sound advice to our Party and State, played a core role in military and defence tasks, Fatherland protection, search and rescue, natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, and actively taken part in building the political system at grass-roots level and realising socio-economic development programmes. The reserve force and the militia and self-defence force have been made powerful and extensive to contribute to maintaining political stability and social order and safety at grass-roots level. Diplomatic ties and international integration have been expanded and deepened. International integration and cooperation have witnessed positive developments. We have created and taken advantage of favourable international conditions and external resources to defend the Fatherland and raise our country’s status in the international arena.

In addition to those achievements, the awareness of Fatherland protection amongst a section of cadres, party members, and citizens has yet to keep pace with situational developments. Theoretical work has been slowly renewed, while ideological work has been underestimated at some time and in some places. There have not been enough effective measures to prevent evil culture, thus negatively impacting on morality and lifestyle of a section of cadres, party members, and citizens. Some party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness have been low. Corruption and wastefulness in several fields and areas have been serious. Economic development has not been really sustainable. Economic potential for defence and security has been still limited. The combination of economic development and defence and security consolidation has yet to be fully made in some areas. Cultural work, the national great unity strength, and socialist democracy have yet to be brought into play.

With regard to those above-mentioned weaknesses, we should seriously seek causes and timely, effective measures to keep raising the country’s synergy for firmly protecting the Fatherland in all situations. Currently, due to the complex situation on regional and global scales, more comprehensive, demanding requirements are being imposed upon Fatherland protection. The issues, which were thought to be simple, now become direct threats to the country’s survival. Against that backdrop, we must continue grasping and effectively implementing the Party’s guidelines and viewpoints on building the synergy for Fatherland protection via drastic, synchronous, effective measures, with a focus on several proposals as follows.

First, frequently paying due attention to the work of Party building and improving its capability in forming sound guidelines to utilise the entire country’s synergy for defending the Fatherland. Emphasis should be placed on enhancing grass-roots level party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness and raising the quality of cadres and party members to contribute to building and rectifying the Party and the grass-roots level political system into purity and strength. All-level party committees must stay close to the people, take care of the people’s benefits, and effectively implement viewpoints, guidelines, and policies on building the synergy for Fatherland protection. It is necessary to build an adept, compact, pure, for-the-people State apparatus capable of meeting national construction requirements and effectively managing all fields of the social life on the basis of the Constitution and law.

Second, regularly renewing operational contents and methods of operation of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front and people’s unions, building a firm “people’s hearts and minds posture”, reviving and bringing into play patriotism and national pride, cementing the people’s faith in our Party, State, and socialist regime, and achieving a consensus amongst the people about the Fatherland protection cause. It is essential to harmoniously deal with and take care of the people’s legitimate benefits. Besides, due regard should be paid to well implementing policies on national great unity, perfecting policies and laws on belief and religion, and promoting cultural values and material and spiritual resources of religions as the basis for building the country’s synergy.

Third, focusing on effectively executing the Socio-Economic Development Strategy in the period of 2021-2030 and beyond to ensure rapid, sustainable economic development. To that end, it is necessary to robustly, effectively renew our economic growth model, restructure our economy, and step up industrialisation and modernisation. Great value should be attached to building and sufficiently completing the socialist-oriented market economy towards modernity and international integration. It is essential to synchronously develop regions, economic sectors, and types of production and business as well as establish a close, effective connection between them. We should accelerate the planning of national, regional, and economic sector development in accordance with each locality’s potential and advantages. Besides, we should strictly, effectively execute the guidelines on closely combining socio-economic development with defence and security consolidation in each socio-economic development programme, projects, and plans, particularly in foreign-invested projects. Importance should be attached to building and developing a self-reliant, dual-purpose, modern defence industry capable of researching, designing, and manufacturing weapons and technical equipment for our armed forces. Economic development should be associated with well implementing policies on social security, ethnicity, religion, hunger eradication, poverty reduction. Due regard should be paid to improving the people’s life, proactively detecting, preventing, and settling destabilising factors internally to firmly protect the Fatherland in all situations.

Fourth, building culture into a solid spiritual foundation of our society and an important motive for the country’s sustainable development. Emphasis should be placed on comprehensively developing Vietnamese people and building a healthy cultural environment in accordance with the country’s socialist-oriented market economy development and international integration. We should comprehensively, synchronously develop cultural fields, build a diverse, civilised, healthy cultural lifestyle, heighten the country’s cultural values, selectively internalise the quintessence of human culture, and eliminate counter-cultural elements. More importantly, we should promote the role of culture in mobilising domestic and international strength for Fatherland protection in the new period.

Fifth, continuing the maintenance and enhancements of the Party’s absolute, direct leadership over and the State’s uniform management of the People’s Army, the People’s Public Security, and the Fatherland protection cause. We should continue supplementing and completing statutory regulations to create a solid legal corridor for forces in their Fatherland protection task. Emphasis should be placed on comprehensively, synchronously implementing strategies relating to Fatherland protection and including relevant tasks and measures in annual programmes and plans of each committee, sector, and locality. We should step up practice review and theoretical research, supplement and perfect laws and theoretical thinking on military and defence and security tasks. Regulations and mechanisms for leadership, command, coordination, and force mobilisation in the settlement of defence and security situations should be formulated and well executed. Due attention should be paid to opportunely institutionalising the Party’s leadership over and the State’s management of the Fatherland protection cause in the context of globalisation, international integration, and 4^th industrial revolution.

Furthermore, it is necessary to keep grasping and seriously implementing the Party’s guidelines on military and defence work, especially apply them to building the all-people national defence, the people’s security, the all-people national defence posture and people’s security posture, and increasingly solid provincial-level and military region defensive zones. It is vital to build revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, modernised People’s Army and People’s Public Security, powerful reserve force, and strong, extensive militia and self-defence force capable of acting as a deterrent to external forces, winning combat situations, effectively dealing with security situations, and maintaining political stability.

Sixth, taking advantage of opportunities from the outside for national construction and development. Grounded on correct assessment of trends of the times and the situation in the region and the world, it is necessary to adhere to the Party’s foreign guidelines, take advantage of support from the international community, particularly from neighbours, traditional friends, and major powers. We should creatively apply the Party’s viewpoints on partners of cooperation and objects of struggle in our international relations to “make more friends and less enemies”. It is essential to step up international integration in a comprehensive, deep, wide fashion, elevate multilateral diplomacy, promote Viet Nam’s role and responsibility in regional and global institutions, get involved in issues relating to the country’s security benefits and development, take part in shaping the framework in new mechanisms and links, and proactively propose initiatives to raise Viet Nam’s image and status in regional and global issues. Last but not least, we should continue expanding and improving defence and security cooperation and actively participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations at different levels to contribute to preventing risks of war and conflict from afar.

Maj. Gen., Dr., NGUYEN VAN THAN, Deputy Director General of the Institute for Defence Strategy