TTLA: Vietnam's educational diplomacy (2001 - 2020): the case of Ho Chi Minh City National University

1. Full name of PhD student: Le Quoc Bao…... 2. Gender: Male
3. Date of birth: February 17, 1985 4. Place of birth: Ho Chi Minh City
5. Decision to recognize PhD students: Decision No. 4416/2019/QD-XHNV dated November 26, 2019
6. Changes during the training process (if any): Decision 257/QD-XHNV dated January 21, 2021 on changing/adjusting the doctoral thesis topic of the graduate student
7. Thesis topic: Vietnam's educational diplomacy (2001 - 2020): the case of Ho Chi Minh City National University
8. Major: International Relations…………… 9. Code: 9310601.01………
10. Scientific supervisors: Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Nam Tien, Lecturer, Faculty of International Relations, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City and Dr. Pham Thi Thu Huyen, Lecturer, Faculty of International Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
11. Summary of new results of the thesis:
11.1. Purpose and research objects of the thesis
- The purpose of the thesis is to analyze and clarify Vietnam's educational diplomacy from 2001 to 2020, in which the case of VNU-HCM is studied as a typical case.
- To clarify the above research purpose, the thesis focuses on solving the following tasks:

11.2. Research methods used
- The thesis applies many methods that are flexibly integrated to highlight the research problem and increase the scientific nature of the topic such as historical method, logical method, policy analysis method, case study method. In addition, the thesis uses common methods in social science and humanities research such as analysis, synthesis, statistics, comparison... to evaluate the development process and effectiveness of Vietnam's educational diplomacy. The thesis also uses methods in other fields such as international economic analysis, political analysis... to further consolidate the arguments about changes in the international environment affecting educational diplomacy and the interests of stakeholders in educational diplomacy.
11.3. Main results and conclusions
11.3.1. Main results
- Educational diplomacy is a new form of diplomacy that has recently received attention from research. The thesis has approached the theoretical basis of educational diplomacy from the conceptual perspective to the connotation of this form of diplomacy in the aspects of (1) goals, (2) participating subjects, (3) approaches, and (4) implementation methods. In particular, when placing educational diplomacy in a comprehensive study with other forms of diplomacy, educational diplomacy has different features from cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy and should be considered a specialized form of diplomacy that needs to be focused on development.
- Educational diplomacy is a form of multi-level, multi-subject and multi-method diplomacy, applied as an effective soft power tool in the context of current international relations. With the international and regional context together with the domestic context in the integration period, Vietnam has the capacity and international position to apply and implement educational diplomacy as a new direction and priority of Vietnam's foreign policy.
- Implemented on the basis of combining State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy, Vietnam's educational diplomacy is promoted through State diplomatic activities in bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to promote international cooperation and integration in education; build a system of guidelines and policies on international integration and educational development. In addition, in the context of many limitations in education, universities, officials, lecturers, students, and researchers - the main subjects of Vietnam's educational diplomacy - have made positive contributions to Vietnam's educational cooperation achievements to serve the goal of developing human resources and improving the country's science and technology level.
-As a State entity established by the Government, the sustainable development orientations and policies along with the educational diplomacy achievements of VNU-HCM are typical examples of the practical application and implementation of educational diplomacy in Vietnam.
11.3.2. Conclusion
- Through research, the thesis "Vietnam's educational diplomacy (2001 - 2020): the case of Ho Chi Minh City National University" has provided an updated and current perspective on Vietnam's educational diplomacy that no other research has done. Thereby, researching this topic helps Vietnam understand more about the role of education as a tool for development, international integration and to promote the country's foreign relations.
- With the recent policies and guidelines for fundamental and comprehensive innovation of the education system, university autonomy and the trend of merging and establishing large universities will be the main trends to elevate Vietnam's educational diplomacy, aiming at the goal of integrating into regional and international educational levels. Educational diplomacy will inevitably be a new direction and priority of Vietnam's foreign policy in the near future, contributing to the development of Vietnam's comprehensive foreign policy, enhancing Vietnam's potential, prestige, position and competitive advantage in the international arena.

- Vietnam's diplomacy and foreign policy;
- Continue research on educational diplomacy;
- Open more research directions on Vietnamese public diplomacy.

- Le Quoc Bao (2019), “Cooperation between Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City and Korea from 2015 up to present”, Korean Studies: Vietnam - Korea Strategic Cooperative Partnership 2019 - 2019, pp.192 - 210.
- Le Quoc Bao (2021), “Vietnam's education diplomacy in the new situations: International integration and sustainable development”, The security and development issues in the new situations Vol. II, pp.41-59.
- Le Quoc Bao (2022), “Educational diplomacy - Some theoretical issues”, Journal of Indian and Asian Studies (3 (112)), pp.61-67.

 

11.1. Purpose and objectives of the thesis
- The purpose of the thesis is to analyze and clarify Vietnam's education diplomacy in the period from 2001 to 2020 in which the study of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City is a typical case.
- To clarify the above research purpose, the thesis focuses on the following tasks:

11.2. Research methods
- The thesis applies many research methods which are flexibly integrated to highlight the research problems and increase the scientificity of the thesis such as historical method and logical method, policy analysis method, case study method. In addition, the thesis uses general methods in social sciences and humanities research such as analysis, synthesis, statistics, comparison methods to evaluate the development process and effectiveness of Vietnam's education diplomacy. The thesis also uses research methods in other fields such as international economic analysis, political analysis, etc. to strengthen the arguments about the global changes affecting education diplomacy and interests of stakeholders in education diplomacy.
11.3. Major results and conclusions
11.3.1. The major results
- Education diplomacy is a new form of diplomacy that has received recent research attention. The thesis has referred to a theoretical frameworks of education diplomacy from the concepts to the connotation of this form of diplomacy in terms of (1) objectives, (2) participating actors, (3) approaches, and (4) implementation methods. In particular, when placing education diplomacy in the comparison with other forms of diplomacy, education diplomacy has distinct features from cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy and should be considered as a worthy-attention form of niche diplomacy.
- Education diplomacy is a multi-level, multi-actor and multi-method form of diplomacy, used as an effective soft power tool in the current international relations context. With favorable factors from the international and regional context along with the context of Doi Moi and integration progress, Vietnam has enough capacity and international prestige to utilize and implement education diplomacy as a new direction and a new priority of Vietnam's foreign policy.
- Implemented on the basis of a harmonious and synchronous combination of State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy, Vietnam's education diplomacy is promoted through State diplomacy's activities in bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to promote educational cooperation and international integration; building a system of guidelines and policies on international integration and education development. In addition, in the context of an education system with many existing limitations, universities, officials, lecturers, students, researchers - the main actors of Vietnam's education diplomacy - have actively made significant contributions to educational cooperation achievements of Vietnam to serve the goal of human resource development and promoting the national science and technology level.
- As a state entity, established by the Government, VNUHCM's development policy with sustainable orientations and the achievements of education diplomacy are a typical example for the practical utilization and implementation of education diplomacy in Vietnam.
11.3.2. Conclusions
- The thesis “Vietnam's education diplomacy (2001 - 2020): The case of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City” has provided an updated and topical perspective on the topic of Vietnam's education diplomacy that has not been studied yet. Thereby, studying this research helps Vietnam understand more about the role of education as a tool for development, international integration and promoting the country's foreign relations.
- With recent guidelines and policies on fundamental and comprehensive reform of the education system, university diplomacy and the merging and establishing large universities will be the main trends to leverage Vietnam's education towards the standards of regional and international education. Education diplomacy will inevitably be a new direction and priority of Vietnam's foreign policy in the near future, contributing to the development of Vietnam's comprehensive foreign policy, enhancing the potential, prestige, and competitive advantage of the country in the international arena.

- Diplomacy and foreign policy of Vietnam;
- Continuing to study education diplomacy;
- Opening new research direction on public diplomacy of Vietnam.

- Le Quoc Bao (2019), “Cooperation between Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City and Korea from 2015 up to present”, Korean Studies: Vietnam - Korea Strategic Cooperative Partnership 2019 - 2019, pp.192 - 210.
- Le Quoc Bao (2021), “Vietnam's education diplomacy in the new situations: International integration and sustainable development”, The security and development issues in the new situations Vol. II, pp.41-59.
- Le Quoc Bao (2022), “Educational diplomacy - Some theoretical issues”, Journal of Indian and Asian Studies (3 (112)), pp.61-67.