Soft Power

I traveled the main roads from Hoi An to the airport in Da Nang this morning to catch a flight to Saigon - which is officially known as Ho Chi Minh City.

As I saw in the north of the country, this central coastal region is a mix of the past and the future with little in between. Directly alongside the roadway are clusters of old one and two story buildings, some made out of wood and corrugated metal, that serve as both homes and businesses. Nearly everyone with a door to the street is selling something. There are also signs of major high-end resorts and housing development that remind me of parts of Florida.

Gated communities and guarded vacation complexes have been laid out or are under construction. In some cases they are open for business. In every case there are walls to keep the real Vietnam away. Along a painted cement wall, tall plantings, or other barricades you will see grounds crews in conical hats cutting the lawn and sweeping the sidewalks, but except for the occasional glimpse of a tennis court between the trees, the average person can’t see in and has no access. Living inside is like going to the beach wearing blinders.

Foreign countries, including the U.S. are making massive direct investments in Vietnam. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the region and if things continue on pace, in ten years, large parts of Vietnam will look like south Florida today. It will be great for those who can afford to live the lifestyle, either as permanent residents, or vacation visitors, but it may take generations for that money to trickle down. 

Cities like Da Nang and Saigon look modern, they look like Asian versions of New York City, but the difference in lifestyle with most of the rest of the country is vast. It is not the same reality.  A few days ago I was taking pictures of some farmland to illustrate the Vietnam we are used to seeing depicted in news reports, history books and travel brochures. 

While I was shooting, I came across a thin and frail elderly man standing next to his bicycle on the side of a rice field watching some ducks play in the water. He motioned to me that it was his plan to take one, slit its throat and eat it. He laughed as he drew his index finger across his own throat. 

We tried to communicate for a while. He pointed to the water buffalo in the distance and he told me what kind of crops were growing in the nearby fields. As I said good bye he gestured to me with his hand out asking for money. Then he lifted his shirt and pointed to his stomach. He was so thin you could see his brown skinned mid-section wrap around his spinal cord. This is what life is like for so many here and this is where the United States could have a greater impact, if it chose to engage with the rest of the world.

Hong Kong and China are among the biggest investors in Vietnam. They are helping turn it into a manufacturing powerhouse and helping it build a modern transportation and communication system. The United States has also done its part, but where our country could make a unique difference is in the use of smart power, beginning with institutions like the Peace Corps and going right to the president of the United States. We could offer services in kind, on a consulting basis, to show the Vietnamese how to make socially responsible decisions that will benefit the country for generations. This is not to say we are not doing so already, but we could do more, here and elsewhere with similar challenges. It would take hands on leadership from the top of our government and by that I mean the White House.

We can show Vietnam how to live a greener lifestyle. China obviously cannot. We could help China do the same. In places like Vietnam, we can lead by example with little cost to the American taxpayer and all the benefit in terms of goodwill and a healthier planet.

But right now we are squandering the full scope of the opportunity because the current administration has decided to withdraw from the world, play down the importance of diplomacy, and declare that the world economy is just a game we are set up to win, because we have so many built in advantages.

And that is all very true, but it is short-sighted. As technology shrinks the world, the competition for ideas is influenced heavily by the truth. People in countries like Vietnam can see how world players treat them and they use that information to decide who to partner with and who to compete against.

It is said that Ho Chi Minh, at the end of World War I tried to get President Woodrow Wilson to intervene with the French to give local control back to the people of Vietnam. Wilson had bigger issues to deal with and let the opportunity pass. Some think that failure to engage was the first step towards military conflict in Vietnam and eventual American involvement.

When you are winning it is so easy to withdraw and count your winnings, but the better strategy is always to engage, because it’s not just about dollars and cents. Sometimes it’s about having friends in all the right places around the world. Amassing fortunes as a lone player in the world economy is a lose-lose approach. We can only imagine what we are missing out on by refusing to  enter the competition.