The Vietnam Dilemma

When John V. Hanford III was sworn into office in May 2002 as the U.S. ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, he chose Vietnam as the country he would visit first in his new role. Although bilateral ties had rapidly warmed following the normalization of relations in 1995, Hanoi’s human rights record was so poor that many members of Congress wanted to designate Vietnam a “country of particular concern” under the terms of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. This case study asks participants to assess Ambassador Hanford’s strategy for deciding whether adding Vietnam to the CPC list would improve or exacerbate conditions.

This teaching case is available for purchase here.

Published by Georgetown