Building and promoting the country’s synergy to meet the requirements of revolutionary task represent a consistent viewpoint of our Party and State. This is also one of the guidelines expressed in Vietnam's National Defence Strategy (NDS) that should be studied, strictly grasped and implemented.
Grounded on study, evaluation and correct estimation of the global, regional and domestic situation, the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress has affirmed that “promoting the synergy of the whole nation and political system, taking advantage of the international support, resolutely, persistently fighting to safeguard national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, to protect the Party, State, people and socialist regime;… to maintain peace, political stability, national security and social order”. Grasping and realizing those guidelines and targets, in Vietnam’s NDS, our Party continues to advocate that it is necessary to build the country’s synergy and create a favourable condition to safeguard the Homeland in all situations. This is a consistent viewpoint that demonstrates the Party’s strategic vision and creative application on the country’s synergy to defending the Homeland in the context of the country’s active international integration.
That viewpoint has existed for a long time. In the national liberation revolution, our Party brought into play the nation’s synergy in combination with the strength of the times to the full to gain national independence and unification. In the cause of national construction and protection, particularly over the past 30 years of national reform, the country’s synergy has been brought to a new height and created new impetus for great, historic victories. However, when carefully studying the viewpoint on building the synergy in the NDS, we would be aware of the new points. More specifically, making use of all resources (both external and internal), our Party decides to mainly rely on the internal ones, to closely combine defence with security, diplomacy, economy and culture as the foundation, to foster economic development in tune with enhanced defence and security under the Party’s political guidelines as the core and determinant. It should be noted that it is the first time our Party has clearly pointed out the guidelines on applying and promoting the country’s synergy in each strategic situation, particularly in repelling the four stated risks and in defence struggle in both armed and unarmed terms. That has expressed the complex developments of the situation and the Party’s clear-headed thinking as well as the necessity of the continued building of the country’s synergy to meet the requirements of Homeland protection in the new situation. To do so, organizations, forces and people should focus on the following main points.
First, it is necessary to enhance the Party’s leadership over and the State’s uniform management and operation of this important task. This is the most decisive element in building and promoting the country’s synergy. Accordingly, the Party must be truly united, pure, strong, and determined to fight corruption, prevent and repel “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” to provide a solid foundation for building the national great unity block. The Party must stay close to the people, pay due regard to the people’s interests, thought and legitimate aspirations, treasure and honour the people’s devotion and contribution. In the new situation, the Party should enhance the leadership and authority via sound, creative guidelines and policies to bring into play the country’s synergy. Party committees should devote due attention to institutionalizing and effectively implementing the guidelines and policies on building the country’s synergy. The State must formulate proper mechanisms for managing the country and the aspects of social life effectively under the Constitution and law. Thus, raising public awareness of observance of law is the determinant. To do so, the State must be made compact and pure, and ceaselessly renew itself to meet the requirements of managing and building the country.
In addition, it is vital to build and bring into play the national great unity block to the utmost. This is a strategy, motivation and enormous resource for mobilizing the country’s synergy during the revolution process. At present, priority should be given to renewing the methods of operations of the Vietnam’s Fatherland Front and organizations to stay close to the people and further promote democracy. Special regard should be paid to building the people’s faith in the Party, State and socialist regime; to arousing and promoting the people’s patriotic tradition; to heightening the all-people spirit, determination and responsibility towards national interests. At the same time, it is essential to take care of the people’s legitimate interests and make every citizen highly responsible for protecting the Homeland like their own interests. Consideration should be given to training and developing the working class and building the intelligentsia and a contingent of entrepreneurs both qualitatively and quantitatively. Besides, the role of organizations, such as Women’s Union, Veteran Association, Elderly Association, and Youth Union must be brought into play. It is important to well implement the policy on ethnical unity, continue to complete the policy and law on belief and religion, and promote the values of culture and ethics of religions to contribute to building the national synergy.
Another element of utmost importance to building the synergy is to develop the country’s basic fields, such as politics, economy, culture, and society to create the material and mental basis for the society. Politically, in addition to maintaining and strengthening the Party’s leadership and the State’s management, significance should be attached to raising public awareness of the political regime. Realties have shown that the socialist regime in our country continues to develop and affirm its pre-eminence. However, besides positive aspects, the development has led to the issues which could undermine the people’s faith and be exploited by hostile forces. Therefore, it is necessary to step up the work of reviewing practice and studying theory to clarify socialism in the current age while conducting propagation and education widely to achieve a sense of unity in the public awareness. As for the economic element which makes up the material foundation of the national synergy, it is necessary to foster economic development in both wide and deep terms in order to produce materials as the reserves for defence and security which perform the core role in the country’s synergy. At the same time, it is essential to improve the effectiveness of combining socio-economic development with strengthened defence and security and focus on developing defence industry to provide the people’s armed forces with better equipment. Culturally and socially, it is vital to continue to build and preserve national identities and always consider those as the source for promoting the country’s strength. In building the culture, focuses should be placed on building comprehensively developed Vietnamese people and developing healthy cultural environment in accordance with the socialist-oriented market economy and international integration; on eliminating anti-cultural elements and selectively receiving the quintessence of culture of human race to greatly contribute to building the country’s synergy.
Strengthening defence and security acts as the core in building national synergy. Thus, in the process, it is necessary to remain steadfast in the Party’s guidelines on the all-people national defence and people’s warfare; to accelerate the building of strong and stable all-people national defence associated with the building of potential, force and posture. In the current situation, it is important to focus on building strong and stable local defensive zones, particularly in remote, isolated, border, sea, island, strategic areas. Great value should be attached to equipping all people with knowledge of defence and security and maintaining readiness for arming all people when necessary. Significance should be attached to stepping up military and defence sciences, particularly the strategic situations, forms of warfare, arts of people’s war, and hi-tech war. The People’s Army and People’s Public Security must be made revolutionary, regular, seasoned, and gradually modern while the reserve forces must be made powerful, well managed and trained, and the militia and self-defence forces must be made widespread with the increasingly high quality. In this regard, emphasis should be placed on enhancing the synergy and combat strength of the People’s Army, particularly its manoeuvrability and capabilities in operations at high altitude and long range, in seas and on islands, in order to make it capable of acting as a deterrent in peacetime and defeating the enemy in all types of war. At the same time, it is necessary to build strong people’s security and people’s security posture associated with strong and stable all-people national defence posture; to improve the capability to fight and effectively dealing with the situations, thereby maintaining the country’s political stability.
Promoting the nation’s strength in combination with the strength of the times is also an important element in building the country’s synergy with the former playing the decisive role. Thus, based on the correct assessment of the trend of the times and the world’s complexion, it is essential to thoroughly exploit the opportunity from the outside to build and develop the country; to adopt appropriate measures to lessen the impact of challenges from the global and regional situation on the country. Besides, it is necessary to well implement the Party’s guidelines and policies on diplomacy; to take advantage of the support of international organizations and countries around the world, particularly neighbours, traditional friends, and major powers; to flexibly employ the Party’s viewpoints on partners and adversaries in diplomatic ties and international cooperation; to resolutely fight to thwart hostile forces’ schemes and acts of sabotage to defend national benefits. This is a task of urgency against the backdrop of hostile forces’ cunning plots and artifices which are aimed to reduce the country’s synergy in the cause of national construction and protection.
Lt. Gen., Assoc., Prof., Dr Tran Thai Binh