"The Peace Dividend" in Southeast Asia: The Political Economy of New Thai—Vietnamese Relations

This article reassesses Thai—Vietnamese relations after the 1991–92 political settlement of the Cambodian problem. With that divisive issue removed, Thailand and Vietnam embarked on a new path of relations which is increasingly characterized by economic interests. The article examines the extent to which this new emphasis, which is more co-operative than confrontational, can contribute to reducing historical political animosity between the two countries, which was largely due to their competition for influence over Laos and Cambodia. Arguing that the Thai—Vietnamese rapprochement is "the peace dividend" in Southeast Asia after the Cold War, the article links the shift in foreign policy orientation of both countries to changes in the international political economy as well as to changes that are taking place in Thailand and Vietnam — such as the rise of pluralist politics in Thailand and the adoption of a market approach to economic development in Vietnam. In theoretical terms, the article looks at how countries, whose foreign policy goals during the Cold War were more or less guided by their "patrons" — the United States for Thailand and the former Soviet Union for Vietnam — are now forced to decide their own foreign policy goals and the changes they have to make in their domestic structure to fulfil such goals. In the Thai—Vietnamese case, both have decided to use foreign policy as a means to respond to the immediate domestic need which is economic development