Vietnam’s Diplomatic Strategy in the Mekong Subregion: Approaches to Balancing amid U.S.–China Geostrategic Rivalry

This article analyzes Vietnam’s diplomatic strategy in the Mekong subregion amid intensifying geostrategic rivalry between the United States and China. The relevance of the topic is determined by the growing importance of the Mekong subregion as a key arena of great-power competition in Southeast Asia, where political, economic, environmental, and institutional interests intersect, directly affecting the national security and sustainable development of the lower Mekong countries, particularly Vietnam. The object of the study is Vietnam’s foreign policy in the Mekong subregion. The subject is the strategic approaches, mechanisms, and instruments employed by Hanoi to implement a diplomacy of balance between the United States and China. The purpose of the research is to identify the specific features of Vietnam’s diplomacy under U.S.–China rivalry and to assess the effectiveness of the “bamboo diplomacy” strategy in safeguarding national interests. The methodological framework draws on the balance-of-power concept in international relations, as well as content analysis, comparative analysis, and case study methods. The scientific novelty of the study lies in its comprehensive analysis of Vietnam’s balancing strategy in the Mekong subregion, with emphasis on institutional mechanisms of influence. The results show that Vietnam demonstrates a flexible and subtle diplomacy within both U.S.- and China-led integration initiatives, extracting benefits from both sides to enhance its capacity to address non-traditional security threats while simultaneously reducing the risk of dependence on a single great power. The study concludes that, although the balancing strategy enables Vietnam to preserve autonomy and maximize national interests in the short term, it is insufficient to address long-term structural challenges such as water security and climate change. Consequently, Vietnam needs to move toward a more proactive role in shaping the regional security architecture.