
The eyes of the West have recently been trained on China & India but Vietnam is rising fast among its Asian peers. A breathtaking period of social change has seen foreign investment bringing capitalism flooding into its nominally communist society booming cities swallowing up smaller villages & the lure of modern living tugging at the traditional networks of family & community. Yet beneath these sweeping developments lurks an authoritarian political system that complicates the nations apparent renaissance. In this engaging work experienced journalist Bill Hayton looks at the costs of change in Vietnam & questions whether this rising Asian power is really heading toward capitalism & democracy. Based on vivid eyewitness accounts & pertinent case studies Haytons book addresses a broad variety of issues in todays Vietnam including important shifts in international relations the growth of civil society economic developments & challenges & the nations nascent democracy movement as well as its notorious internal security. His analysis of Vietnams police state & its systematic mechanisms of social control coercion & surveillance is fresh & particularly imperative when viewed alongside his portraits of urban & street life cultural legacies religion the media & the arts. With a firm sense of historical & cultural context Hayton examines how these issues have emerged & where they will lead Vietnam in the next stage of its development.