Vietnam Today: A Guide to a Nation at a Crossroads - Softcover

Ashwill, Mark A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1931930090 ISBN 13: 9781931930093

Publisher: Nicholas Brealey, 2004

Synopsis

Vietnam stands at a crossroads. Located in the geographical center of Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a complex mixture of the ancient and the modern. A Soviet-style legacy contrasts with an emerging Western-style market economy. Vietnam is faced with pressing political, social and economic challenges, and yet it is full of hope and potential. Here is a first look at Vietnam in the twenty-first century, a nation undergoing rapid change and opening up to the world. Dr. Mark Ashwill paints a broad picture of Vietnam, past and present, and explores todayâ??s defining issues. Readers come to understand how a two-thousand-year history of foreign invasion, occupation and war has deeply influenced the Vietnamese character. The Chinese, French and U.S. Americans have all left their imprint. Yet the struggle against oppression has infused the Vietnamese with a fierce spirit of nationalism and caution in their dealings with foreigners. Building relationships and trust as a prelude to doing business are critical to the Vietnamese, whether at home or abroad. Vietnam Today reveals the most prominent characteristics of the Vietnamese: their energy and drive, the dominance of group over individual and the paramount importance of maintaining harmony. In doing so, Ashwill and his Vietnamese contributor shed light on many sources of misunderstanding between Vietnamese and Western professionals. But for those who are prepared to take the time to get to know the people, to move at their pace, and to learn about their culture and history, Vietnam can be a land of promise and opportunity.

About this title

About the Author

Mark A. Ashwill is the Managing Director of Capstone Vietnam, a human resource development company with offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) that offers a variety of education and training solutions for individual and institutional clients. From 2005 to 2009, he served as country director of the Institute of International Education in Vietnam.  Prior to moving to Vietnam, Ashwill was director of the World Languages Institute, adjunct lecturer and Fulbright program adviser at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY-Buffalo).  In 2003 Dr. Ashwill became the first U.S. citizen to be awarded a Fulbright Senior Specialists Grant to Vietnam. He blogs at An International Educator in Vietnam.  Thai Ngoc Diep assisted in researching Vietnam Today. She received her undergraduate degree in Vietnam and Master's and Ph.D. degrees from SUNY-Buffalo.

Review

This book examines a nation and its heritage, its present, and its future, with the dispassionate look that renders objectivity to the analysis, yet manages to preserve the humanity at the core of such analysis -- MultiCultural Review, September 2005

This succinct guidebook is must reading for businesspeople interested in the Vietnamese market; it is also recommended for academics and tourists interested in Vietnam. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. --- J. W. Leonard, Miami University, ALA. -- CHOICE Review, June 2005

Who should read this book? Certainly those doing business with or in Vietnam...  students of international business and opportunity seekers. I would also recommend it for the slightly adventuresome tourist, for veterans of the war generation who would go back out of curiosity or contrition. -- Dr. George F. Simons at diversophy.com, 2005

The focus throughout the book is the Vietnamese people, their culture, and their reaction to Western ideals. The book does an excellent job of maintaining a critical yet constructive view of both Western and Vietnamese cultures as they meet and interact. -- Nilar A.Chit Tun, Intercultural Management Quarterly, American University, 2005

About this edition

• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1931930090
• ISBN 13: 9781931930093
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208