Opportunities and challenges for stability and development of the Indo-Pacific region

The conference attracted a large number of domestic and foreign scholars to attend in person and online. Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Prof. Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities) expressed his deep gratitude to the scholars who attended and wrote articles for the Conference. He emphasized the importance of the Indo-Pacific region, not only economically but also geopolitically. With 60% of the world's population and the presence of major economies such as the US, China, Japan, India and ASEAN countries, this region is an important center of global interaction.
However, this is also a region with an extremely complex geopolitical situation and competition for power among major countries. This region is also facing a series of transnational problems such as environmental degradation, climate change, epidemics, and piracy. These challenges have the potential to cause instability and the risk of escalating into regional conflicts or crises.
With that meaning, Rector Hoang Anh Tuan believes that: The conference is an opportunity for scholars to share their views on the current situation of the Indo-Pacific region, the opportunities and challenges for the stability and development of the region, and the policies and strategies chosen by countries in the region in the connection and cooperation in the region. Thereby, it is possible to suggest related policies to help Vietnam overcome challenges and make the most of the existing opportunities in the region for stability and development.
In addition to the opening session, the Workshop will take place in two main discussion sessions:
Session 1: Strategic context in the Indo-Pacific region from a theoretical perspective
Session 2: The engagement of major powers in the emerging Indo-Pacific region
Through the reports and speeches at the Workshop, scholars agreed that the stability and development of the Indo-Pacific region is currently governed by many complex, intertwined, and mutually influencing factors.
According to Prof. Dr. Philippe Le Prestre, Laval University (Québec, Canada), those factors need to be considered from the perspective of complexity theory, which means “considering multiple actors at the same time, operating at different spatial or functional scales, engaging in interactions in non-linear and networked models, and displaying unique dynamics, that is, both stable and unstable, promoting and hindering dynamics”. Based on a wealth of reliable sources of information on the economic, political, military, security situation, cooperative alliances as well as competition and conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region, a research team from the Institute of World Economics and Politics has analyzed the need to build a composite index on international cooperation and conflict. “Building composite indexes based on all variables on cooperation and conflict (such as economic, diplomatic, military cooperation; territorial disputes, military confrontations, conflicts, diplomatic and economic sanctions) will help us not only measure the current state of international relations but also provide a framework to predict future cooperation or conflict,” said Dr. Nghiem Tuan Hung. In the second session of the Conference, scholars focused on clarifying the changes in the strategies of major powers in this region, typically the US and China, and their impacts on the general economic and security situation of the region as well as countries, including Vietnam.
Based on the analysis of the strategies and specific action plans of the two superpowers, the US and China, for the Indo-Pacific region, Associate Professor Dr. Bui Thanh Nam (VNU-USSH) and Dr. Hoang Hue Anh (Institute of Chinese Studies) affirmed that this region is of special importance in the economic, political and military development strategy, increasing the influence of the two countries not only in the region but also on a global scale. That also creates many opportunities (promoting the formation and establishment of a large regional economic and trade network, increasing investment) but also entails many challenges (typically security and military conflicts, territorial disputes, etc.). In that context, countries in the region, including Vietnam, need to have appropriate strategies to take advantage of opportunities as well as limit challenges, and strengthen their role in promoting the trend of peace, stability, and friendly cooperation in the region. The presentations at the conference attracted the attention of many scholars, with profound comments. In addition to expressing consensus with the research results and conclusions presented, the comments also raised a number of questions to clarify issues related to the biggest opportunities and challenges for the stability and development of the region, or the prospects for cooperation between major powers and developing countries to jointly solve global issues: climate change, etc. In addition to 5 reports and many direct discussions at the Workshop, the Organizing Committee also received articles from nearly 30 domestic and foreign researchers. After the Workshop ends, the articles will be edited, revised and published in the Proceedings at the earliest opportunity.