Vietnam in international institutions

This thesis investigates how socialization in three selected institutions, namely the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the UN Security Council (UNSC) has led to pro-norm behaviour on the part of Vietnamese officials. This behavioural change was evidenced by their support for the creation of an ASEAN Human Rights Body, the adoption of Preventive Diplomacy Papers in the ARF and internalization of the Responsibility to Protect as an emerging norm at the Security Council. Empirical findings in the thesis show that socialization occurred across three case-studies, eliciting pro-norm behaviour on the part of state officials, though to varying degrees. These findings confirm the plausibility of socialization as a source of cooperative behaviour among state agents within social environments. In addition, they provide insights into the slow but increasingly active and substantive cooperation in political and security areas where Vietnam has historically been reluctant. The thesis concludes with a suggestion that socialization could be an extremely useful framework for investigating how far Vietnam might go beyond verbal support for new norms, given the country has recently embarked on a new phase of integration. Vietnam now attaches great importance to the implementation of international commitments that it has made, and considers this a guiding principle for the country‘s new integration strategy. Socialization processes could yield insights about the likely extent of norm internalization and compliance in this new period.