Locating the Evolving Vietnam–India Security Partnership in Hanoi’s Hedging Strategy with Major Powers: A Neoclassical Realist Analysis

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, Vietnam has consistently strengthened its security ties with India. However, notable gaps remain in theorizing the burgeoning security partnership in the context of Hanoi’s foreign policy decision-making. Common arguments revolve around structural, material, and utility-maximizing motivations. However, these overlook the dynamism of Vietnamese foreign policy vis-à-vis the emerging structural power dynamics and the motivations behind domestic-level decision-making. While the role of structural forces has been irrefutable given Hanoi’s desire to hedge with major powers since the Cold War period, they are not enough to determine the nature, motivations, speed and scope of the Southeast Asian state’s strengthening security ties with India since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Therefore, through a neoclassical realist analysis, this article seeks to explain how enhancing security ties with India fits in Hanoi’s overarching hedging strategy since the mid-twentieth century in ways beyond utility-maximizing models.