The book “Several issues about military policy, national defence strategy in the cause of building and defending the socialist Vietnam Fatherland in the new period” authored by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, published in July, marks a breakthrough in military and national defence policies.
With 39 articles, speeches, and interviews by the Party chief, who is also Secretary of the Central Military Commission, the book reflects his consistent ideology on leadership, guiding principles, and strategies for protecting the homeland in the new era which inherits the national tradition and draws on practical experiences in the past struggle for national construction and defence.
Experts described the book as a manifestation of his ideology, with a focus on building a revolutionary, disciplined, elite, and modern army to meet requirements in the new context.
Assoc. Prof Pham Van Linh, Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, said with rich and vivid practical experience, the Secretary of the Central Military Commission has shown a creative mindset and a sense of responsibility regarding military strategy by seamlessly integrating the tradition of national construction with national defence of the Vietnamese nation.
Assoc. Prof Hoang Phuc Lam, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, affirmed the dialectical nature and strategic vision of the Party General Secretary through the book. The content of the book contributes to spotlighting the strides in the Party’s theoretical thinking regarding military and national defence policies, especially the comprehensive and direct leadership role of the Party over the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) in the cause of building and protecting the socialist homeland.
Director of the Institute for Defence Strategy (IDS) Maj. Gen Vu Cuong Quyet said safeguarding peace is a sacred value in the mission of protecting the homeland.
The core breakthrough in the Party leader’s thinking on military policy and national defence strategy lies in the idea that safeguarding the national independence and self-reliance must be closely linked to preserving peace.
This is an innovative and unique ideology on military and national defence in which preserving a peaceful environment is the consistent goal in building a collective national defence and military strength.
According to Lieut. Gen Trinh Van Quyet, member of the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, deputy head of the VPA’s General Political Department, the articles and speeches by the Party chief in the book continue to affirm the principle of the Party’s absolute and direct leadership over all aspects concerning the VPA.
The book reflects the Party’s evolving mindset regarding the mission to protect the homeland “early and from afar”, inheriting and developing the tradition of “building and defending the nation together”, “safeguarding the nation before it faces threats”. It also outlines strategies to prevent and eliminate the risks of war and conflict, protect and maintain national peace and stability, according to Quyet.
Col. Le The Mau, former head of the IDS’s Military Scientific Information Office, described the book as a highly valuable and historically significant political document.
It outlines the urgent, fundamental, and long-term defence tasks of Vietnam in the ongoing efforts to build and solidify the political regime, national sovereignty and innovation cause during global integration.
Dang Thanh Huong, deputy head of the Press Department at the Journal of Law and Development from the Vietnam Lawyers’ Association, said the articles in the book skillfully apply and inherit the lessons from the forefathers, embodying principles such as “Building the country goes hand in hand with defending the country,” “Protecting the country from its inception”, with strategies to prevent and eliminate the risks of war and conflict from early stages. The aim is to build a collective strength in politics, ideology, economy, culture, national defence and security and external affairs to protect the homeland./.