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

Vietnam is opening to the Western world. Contains history, cultural overview, and contemporary facts to ease the way. * AsianWeek * A practical and relevant guide that provides a deeper understanding of Vietnam's rich heritage and recent changes. In-depth and comprehensive. * Asian Pages * 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 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 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 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 Vietnam Today is an invaluable resource for businesspeople, social scientists, academics and tourists all at once. Ashwill has created a portrait of a misunderstood country and people. Not only does he challenge common perceptions of Vietnam, its citizens and its culture, but he also challenges the reader's own ways of looking at the world. -- Christopher Brownlee, President and Co-Founder, Vietnamese Adoptee Network

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 today'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.