It is the contemporary world’s most basic feature that countries - large and small, rich and poor, with different socio-political institutions - live together in an environment of both cooperation and struggle, globalisation, and international integration; the world order is unstable with many changes and challenges from increasingly fierce non-traditional security issues; the military conflict in Ukraine is raising many big questions yet to be answered. In such complex conditions, each country that wants to maintain its independence, territorial integrity and political institution, must have sufficient status and strength with high determination and bravery, persistently pursue and realise ideology. All of that requires a clear development path, in which strategic self-reliance is the core content.

To understand strategic self-reliance, it is first necessary to have the concept of self-reliance. Currently, there are many different interpretations of "self-reliance". According to the Vietnam Encyclopedia, self-reliance is a special right to be able to control an area in terms of rulership, people or someone’s self. It has been suggested that self-reliance is the undivided and unhindered power to form and enforce laws and this characteristic defines the character of a nation. Similarly, some people think that a country is self-reliant when it has an internal apparatus that effectively controls society and is not controlled by any external force.

From the perspective of administration and management, self-reliance means the self-determination of all tasks of a subject, from thinking to acting, from choosing to realising the subject’s purpose, not being dependent on any outside force. In the subject itself, self-reliance is expressed in the self-determination, self-reliance of emotions, will, and behaviour, not being influenced by circumstances and environment. In politics, self-reliance is the ability to control, own, and self-determine all activities of a nation according to the will, aspirations and interests of the nation and its people. Self-reliance is the supreme right of a nation-state related to international relations.

Thus, self-reliance can be understood as the right to self-determine all activities of a nation-state according to the highest interests of the nation and the will of its people; as the firm grasp of the synergic strength of the nation, the ability to massively mobilise and use all strength to exercise lawful sovereignty and protect the interests of the nation-state. The self-reliance of a nation is determined consistently, but there are times when there is flexibility in behaviour, appropriate to each specific situation and the situation of the times.

Voting at the 13th National Party Congress (Photo credit: VNA)

“Self-reliance” is closely related to “independence”. If "independence" is a state of not being dependent on any external force, then self-reliance is the ability to control and actively make decisions to accomplish the subject's goals. From the political perspective, independence and self-reliance play a core role in political thought, the state, the law, including international relations. Independence contains the inner relationship with the outside (between the subject and the object relationship); Self-reliance contains mainly the internal content of the nation (determining its own problems).

From the concept of self-reliance, it is possible to clarify the concept of strategic self-reliance. If strategy is understood as "the motto and plan, the overall strategy for a period of struggle and social construction" (Great Vietnamese Dictionary), then strategic self-reliance is the right to self-determine all mottos, plans and activities of the nation-state in a certain period. Strategic self-reliance in our country is the right to self-determine all guidelines, policies and activities of the entire Party, people and army to build and defend the Fatherland, accelerate industrialisation, modernisation for the goals of rich people and a strong, democratic, equal, and civilised country and firmly progress towards socialism. Strategic self-reliance is the core, vital and cross-cutting issue in all of our Party's guidelines and policies, and is regularly implemented under specific conditions and circumstances.

In the context of many complex and unpredictable changes in the world, regional and domestic situation. Peace, cooperation and development are still the main trends but are being challenged. The already unstable world order has been further disrupted by armed conflicts of unprecedented severity. The arms race, the new type of cold war, the ever-complicated trade war between countries, have made the process of globalisation and the world economy facing many obstacles. Meanwhile, hegemony, pragmatism, and populism are on the rise. Disputes over sovereignty, territory overseas and islands are complicated in many areas. While the Covid-19 pandemic has just caused serious upheaval in the global economy and society, which takes a long time to recover, the increasingly fierce challenges of climate change, environmental crisis, and cyber-security and human security also tend to increase. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has developed strongly, creating breakthroughs in many fields, and simultaneously brought both opportunities and challenges for all countries and peoples.

Against this backdrop, our Party and State have always been aware of, promulgated and well implemented the strategic self-reliance. That is reflected in the innovation path, being actively and proactively maintaining independence and self-reliance in international integration, in 10-year socio-economic development strategies, and in the national defence strategy in the new situation; especially the Platform for national construction in the transitional period to socialism, etc., are imbued with strategic self-reliance. After 37 years of implementing Doi Moi, 32 years of implementing the Platform for national construction in the transitional period to socialism, the theories of Doi Moi, independence and self-reliance in international integration, of socialism and Vietnam's path to socialism are increasingly perfected and step-by-step realised. The document of the 13th Party Congress affirmed: “Our country has attained great achievements of historical significance and has comprehensively developed compared to the period before Doi Moi, notably the scale and level of the economy. Both people’s material and spiritual life have markedly been improved. The potential, international stature and prestige of our country today are unprecedented, which is the pride, motivation, resource, and belief for the entire Party, people, and army to overcome difficulties and challenges on the path of comprehensive and synchronous development of the country”. At the same time, our Party also determined that in the term 2021 - 2025 and the following years, our overarching development goal is: “To enhance the Party's leadership, ruling and combative capacity; to build a pure and strong Party and political system; to strengthen the people's trust in the Party, State and the socialist system; to awaken the aspiration for national building toward prosperity and happiness; to tap into the collective will and power of the great national solidarity alongside the power of the times; to comprehensively and synchronously advance the cause of Doi Moi, accelerate industrialisation and modernisation; to build and steadfastly defend the Homeland and to maintain an environment of peace and stability. We shall make every effort so that by mid-21st century, Vietnam will become a socialist-oriented developed country”.

It can be seen that the tasks set out by the 13th Party Congress have a very high strategic self-reliance, both having a long and broad vision, and guiding specific tasks. Right after the Party Congress was the two-year period when the Covid-19 pandemic raged, causing the country to face many difficulties and challenges. Most of the supply chains were broken, inflation increased, interest rates rose, production declined, many economic sectors were paralysed, people's lives were difficult, many countries around us and the world suffer negative growth, etc. Faced with that situation, our Party and State had timely and appropriate guidelines and policies, which were concretised by programmes and plans to combat the pandemic, restore economic development, and ensure living standards of people, stabilising social order and safety. Thanks to that, our country had overcome challenges and achieved very proud results. In 2021, Vietnam became one of the 20 economies with the largest commercial scale in the world. Economic growth rate in 2021 reached 2.56%, while many economies had negative growth. In 2022, economic growth rate reached 8.02%, being a country with a high growth rate compared to the region and the whole world. Entering 2023, although the world economy faces many difficulties, our country's economy remains basically stable, the balances of the economy are ensured, people's living standards are gradually improved, political - social stability, national defence and security are maintained and strengthened; Foreign relations and international integration have achieved many outstanding achievements.

Currently, the situation in the world and in the country has intertwined advantages, disadvantages and challenges, posing many new problems and new requirements for the implementation of strategic self-reliance. However, with high political determination, scientific vision, accurate and timely forecasting of the situation, Party and State are definitely firm, steadfast in strategic self-reliance. To ensure strategic self-reliance in the new context, the following key solutions are necessary:

Firstly, strengthen the national synergic strength in terms of economy, politics - foreign affairs, culture - society and defence and security; at the same time, combine national strength with epochal one. Secondly, consolidate and improve the Party's leadership capacity, the effectiveness and efficiency of the State's centralised and unified management, and bring into play the role of socio-political organisations; respect and promote the people's right to mastery. Thirdly, closely and harmoniously combine the economic, cultural and social development, the expansion of external relations with the assurance of national defence and security; and promote the synergic strength to build a powerful country; and firmly defend the Socialist Vietnamese Fatherland. Fourthly, implement synchronously, creatively and effectively foreign affairs; proactively and actively integrate into the world comprehensively, extensively, flexibly, effectively, without depending on or leaning towards either side, and mutually beneficial cooperation. Fifth, proactively detect, prevent early and from afar the risk of deviating from socialism, firmly protect national sovereignty, maintain independence and self-reliance. Sixth, properly handle relations with major countries, not getting caught up in those countries' game of power, not taking side, strongly affirm national independence, self-reliance and sovereignty.

Raising the flag of national independence and socialism, building a strong enough socio-economic force, implementing reasonable countermeasures and plans, we will definitely ensure strategic self-reliance in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland in the new context, we will definitely lead our country to successfully realise the goals of rich people and a strong, democratic, equal, and civilised country and firmly progress towards socialism.

Prof., Dr. VU VAN HIEN