Newswise — In honor of the 15th anniversary of normalized relations between the United States and its former enemy, Vietnam, Texas Tech University has helped organize a symposium to discuss future collaboration between the two nations.
“Vietnam-U.S. Relations: Toward a Brighter Future” takes place July 8-9 in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is co-organized by the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech and Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam with support from the Embassy of the United States of America in Hanoi, the Asia Foundation and the Henry Luce Foundation.
Presenters and speakers include U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Virginia), Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh and other diplomats, academics and administrators from the two nations.
As many as 200 participants from the U.S. and Vietnam will discuss mutual priorities and cooperation in areas such as education, defense, technology and healthcare while devising a framework for stable long-term relations.
Steve Maxner, director of the Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech, said symposium discussions will impact foreign policy in Vietnam and tie in to President Barak Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s renewed focus on U.S. diplomacy.
“This symposium will have a profound impact on a significant set of attendees,” Maxner said. “The scholars making presentations are all excellent in their fields and include several Vietnamese Americans. We believe this to be very important as there remains a contentious relationship between Vietnamese American communities and Vietnam and we hope to foster constructive and positive discussion, mutual understanding and reconciliation between them.”
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