Stabilizing Relations in Vietnam: How a Nation Recovers from War

After the Vietnam War the Communist party faced the issue of unifying the minds of the Vietnamese people beyond just the outward signs. The party experienced both successes and failures in these efforts but overall found a valid way to normalize relations in the country. This thesis finds that unity did not come so much from forced indoctrination as from establishing prosperity and finding common points of unity. In Vietnam’s case, its shift to a more flexible and tolerant political and economic atmosphere paved the way for more positive views of the government, and by employing a nationalist appeal to historic figures and symbols, the government further shaped the minds of the rising generation. The use of Ho Chi Minh as the symbol of both modern Vietnam and the Communist party is a particularly telling example. Upon visiting Vietnam today, it is difficult to find outward expressions of disunity between the north and south. Accordingly, some of the strategies employed in Vietnam may be useful in other countries struggling with unity.