Pirozzolo Company Public Relations

"Great Powers Grand Strategies" Looks at the Global Consequences of a Regional Conflict

Book Review

by Dick Pirozzolo, Pirozzolo Company Public Relations, Boston

How regional conflicts become global conflagrations and what to do about it.

Throughout 2017, U.S. foreign policy has been conflicted, confusing, and churlish with the US withdrawal from the Transpacific Partnership, spats between the President and the Secretary of State, a paucity of foreign affairs officers and the threat of armed conflict between the US and North Korea involving China and Russia.

In this muddled foreign policy environment comes Great Powers, Grand Strategies, offering a thoughtful analysis of how a regional trouble spot in the Pacific—the South China Sea—can have far reaching global consequences that impact major world powers. The volume, edited by Anders Corr Ph.D., delivers much-needed insight into China’s behavior and desire to project its power worldwide. Its behavior in this vital region for shipping, fishing, and oil exploration has on occasion sparked armed conflict between China’s warships and Philippine and Vietnamese commercial and military vessels. Amidst the ongoing disputes, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and other Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with a stake in maintaining peaceful, multifaceted trade relations with China are being blackmailed by China’s overreach. What is more, the United States needs maintain a Naval presence in the Pacific or cede American influence and power to China.

In an advance copy of Great Powers, Grand Strategies, to be released by the Naval Institute Press on January 15, 2018, Dr. Corr writes, "This book is the first to focus on major power grand strategies including economic, diplomatic, and military strategies, and their interrelationships so that we can explore how global actors are, on the one hand, contributing to the solution and, on the other hand, perpetuating conflict."

Dr. Corr, who publishes the Journal of Political Risk, cites China’s behavior in the Pacific and elsewhere in the world as ample reason for the US Navy to maintain its cautionary

Anders Corr with Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea

presence in the Pacific, which he regards as, "part of a global system of defense of not only the United States but its allies and values, which include international law, democracy, and human rights. To criticize the United States deployment in the Pacific as offensive without geographic context ignores the global picture and principles the United States is defending.”

He is quick to add, “Viewing China’s actions in the South China Sea as defensive against U.S. forward deployment ignores China’s similar offensive actions in the East China Sea and Himalayan region of India.” He decried China’s suppression of democracy, human rights, and international law in Asia and abroad and its efforts to remake global governance to its own advantage rather than on principles of democracy adding, “China’s South China Sea actions are offensive when viewed in this global context."

Dr. Corr calls into question China’s disputed claims to the Spratly Islands and sea lanes in the South China Sea and its maneuvering to control the territory militarily.  After having established its boot print in the area, Dr. Corr notes that China then began to demand joint oil and gas development and sovereignty agreements, with ASEAN nations. “Xi Jinping calls this a 'win-win solution,' I call it China’s take and talk strategy.”

The volume assembles the thinking of foreign policy scholars and practitioners Bill Hayton, Gordon Chang, Bernard Cole, James Fanell, and others who examine the conflict in the context of a global big picture. As editor, Dr. Corr juxtaposes the grand strategies of the great powers to determine the likely outcomes of the dispute, and suggests ways to defuse tensions that are likely to spill over to other regions.

Eric Gomez, Policy Analyst, Cato Institute lauded Great Powers, Grand Strategies “for exploring the strategies of ASEAN, Russia, and other important but overlooked actors in the dispute.”

Oct. 19 - the North Korean oil tanker Ryesonggang 1 connected to a Chinese ship. U.S. Govt. Satellite photo

Alessio Patalano, King's College London credited the book for examining, “the South China Sea as a locus of strategic competition where simmering maritime disputes have significant implications for major powers well beyond its confines, and where the international power balance is being redefined.”

Dr. Corr visited all South China Sea claimant countries, undertaking research in Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Brunei.  He has also conducted analysis for USPACOM, CENTCOM, and NATO, including work in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

Dr. Corr is the founder and CEO of Corr Analytics in New York, which helps governments and businesses evaluate strategic and international political risks as part of their decision-making process. 

Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations an international corporate communications firm based in Boston, and coauthor of "Escape from Saigon" with Michael Morris that focuses on the events of April 1-30, 1975, the last month of Vietnam War.

 

 

 Great Powers, Grand Strategies

NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS

Publication date: 15 January 2018

China & the Asia Pacific | 336 pp.

Hardcover & eBook: $34.95

ISBN: 978-1-68247-235-4

Vietnam-US Relations Key to Power Balance in Southeast Asia, Anders Corr, "Great Powers Grand Strategies"

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's recent visit to the White House underscores the importance the United States-Vietnam relationship that has evolved positively over the past four decades. 

Vietnam, a nation of 90 million people, is today not only a trading partner but a key ally in the projection of US diplomacy and Naval power in the South China Sea— a region where China's rapacious behavior over shipping lanes, fishing, and other natural resources, as well as China's building of a military runway on the Spratly Islands has created an ongoing threat to peace.  During the visit Phuc told President Trump, the relationship has undergone significant upheavals in history, but that the two countries were now "comprehensive partners." 

In the  mid 90’s the US granted Most Favored Nation to establish open and vigorous trade relationships with Vietnam, which was seen as a new frontier to sell US brands, get cheap labor and buy agricultural products. Phuc is now replacing the cheap labor positioning with quality manufacturing given his county's nearly universal literacy, education, entrepreneurship and eagerness to learn strategies needed to penetrate the US market. This was evident when I took part in a panel discussion for Ho Ch Minh City's top 100 CEOs a couple of summers ago.

Vietnam has also become a hip travel destination for the been-there-done-that crowd. Some 400,000 Americans and 100,000 Canadians expected to visit Vietnam this year according to Vietnamese government figures.

Over the past two decades, The US-Vietnam relationship has become much more intertwined and multifaceted.  Americans now buy more Vietnamese products including electronics, clothing, rice coffee and oil than they sell—$30.6 billion, with US exports to Vietnam at $6 billion.  Cultural and academic ties are far more numerous and Vietnam has also become the key US ally in maintaining the balance of power in the Pacific.

In this environment comes fresh insight by Anders Corr, PhD in his forthcoming book, Great Powers, Grand Strategies: The New Game In The South China Sea, "This book is relevant to Vietnam, which is especially attentive to shifts in power between global powers in the South China Sea, including China, the U.S., Russia, the U.K., and France."

Anders Corr displays The Philippines Flag off Scarborough Shoals in the South China Sea

The book, Great Powers, Grand Strategies offers the analysis of a dozen experts on big picture approaches to the South China Sea dispute," according to publisher U.S. Naval Institute Press, "By exploring the international dimensions of this regional hotspot, coauthors Bill Hayton, Gordon Chang, Bernard Cole, James Fanell, and others examine how the military, diplomatic, and economic strategies of the major global actors have both contributed to solutions and exacerbated the potential for conflict."

 

 

 

As editor of the volume, Dr. Corr juxtaposes the grand strategies of the great powers to determine the likely outcomes of the South China Sea dispute, as well as evaluate the ways to possibly defuse tensions in the region."

As part of his research Dr. Corr, who is also the publisher of The Journal of Political Risk  visited all South China Sea claimant countries,  undertaking field research in Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Brunei. Dr. Corr has also conducted analysis for USPACOM, CENTCOM, and NATO, including work in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Dr. Corr is also and active member of The Boston Global Forum, a think tank with ties to Harvard University Faculty, that focuses on peaceful solutions to global conflicts, including the current  tensions that plague the South China Sea.

Boston Global Forum was founded by Tuan Nguyen, who is the UCLA Chair for UNESCO and brought a free and open internet to Vietnam, and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.

Great Powers, Grand Strategies by Anders Corr is available from the U.S. Naval Institute Press

Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations in Boston and coauthor of "Escape from Saigon" with Michael Morris that focuses on the events of April 1-30, 1975, the last month of Vietnam War.

On Letting Go - to Move Ahead by The Rev. Sarah Robbins-Cole

It was a distinct honor to have been included in the Easter Sunday homily at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, in Holliston, Mass.

Earlier last week, I was chatting with Sarah—my friend and neighbor—who is otherwise known as The Rev. Sarah Robbins Cole. She told me she was working on her sermon for Easter Sunday, the theme was letting go. I suppose the idea is there cannot be rebirth without letting go of those things that tie us to the past.

"Any thoughts?" she inquired. 

Not missing a chance to plug "Escape from Saigon - a Novel," I mentioned that "letting go" is a theme running loosely throughout the story.  

The struggle with letting go is voiced by Billy Freda, the high school friend, who has to let go of the moment he scored the winning point in the championship game, US Ambassador Graham Martin who cannot let go of South Vietnam that had become intertwined with his identity, the reporters who devoted their youth to covering the war and have to find a new life elsewhere, and of course, the two Vietnam veterans who wrote the book—myself and Michael Morris, who saw combat in the Vietnam War as a young soldier in 1967.

That war ended on April 30, 1975—42 years ago on the last day this month.

Here is what The Rev. Sarah Robbins-Cole, Rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Holliston, Massachusetts told her congregation about letting go on Easter Sunday Morning 2017.

 

 Easter 2017

Marie Kondo of the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing is perhaps one of the best known books that has come our way from the field of decluttering and home organization. If you have not read the book, the basic premise of the book is to get rid of things that do not spark joy. Marie Kondo recommends taking out every item you own, in a particular sequence, and touching each item, and if it does not spark joy – out it goes. She has other helpful hints such as not buying more specialized storage containers to hold yet more clutter, and folding your clothes, for example your shirts, in a way that finding a shirt is as easy as flicking through record albums – because they all are standing on end.

The desire to hold on and to accumulate is as old as time and man. Perhaps it’s because we falsely equate accumulation with security. If I just hang on to clothes, household items, food, photos, books, I will never be in want. Who knows? I might need one of these things later.

Or we mistakenly believe that if we throw things away or recycle them – somehow we won’t remember or value what that item represented.

Or sometimes what is harder is we hold on to emotions and memories - something that has hurt us deeply. Maybe you are holding onto a grudge, or an imaginary contract with someone (that is, unless they do x, I will not forgive, move on, or be nice, etc.,). And somehow letting go would be to admit defeat.

When people have asked me this week what I am preaching on this week – and I tell them that I am working on a sermon about letting go – it has been interesting to hear people’s response.

When I told my neighbor Dick Pirozzolo, who has just published the book, Escape from Saigon - a Novel this year, he said, “funny you should say that”. He is himself a Vietnam Vet, but he said in his research and during his book tour, while he has encountered many veterans who live full and rich lives, he also said that he has met a fair number of veterans who live and breathe their days in Vietnam every day—even though the end of this month will mark the 42nd anniversary of the ending of that war. “After all,” Dick commented, “you are 19 years old, your friends are all back home working in a shoe store, and you are in a strange country, surrounded by people speaking a foreign language, and you are getting shot at.”

But he said, the problem is that what happens to some of us is that we get stuck at 19. Our entire identity is formed around being a Vietnam Veteran and that does not allow a new identity to form. Our lives are dedicated to remembering that time – from the stories we share to the social media platforms we belong to and contribute to.

Another friend of mine, who works with students, said to me, “that is such an important message” because she finds that some of her students cling to ideas, ideologies, and identities in ways that are unhealthy because they perpetuate their sense of being powerless victims in a hostile world.

Or another friend talked about a woman she knew who was the team mom of a volleyball team – and she did everything – she organized uniforms, social events, coaches gifts, the booster club – but at the end of her son’s junior year, at the end of season party, when he was not elected captain by his peers for the following year, she was absolutely devastated. She refused to talk to anyone for the rest of the party and her son never played volleyball again – so attached was she to the idea of her son being captain.

I am sure we all have examples from our own lives - elderly parents who cling to the idea of unrealistic independence, or children who can’t seem to quite realize they have actually reached adulthood, a parent who cannot let go of their adult children, etc., etc.,
The subject of letting go is not just a superficial self-help issue. They are deep spiritual concerns – which come to the very heart of our gospel lesson for this morning. Jesus tells Mary – do not hold on to me. Literally – do not cling to me as I am now. I am yet to ascend to the Father. Jesus is telling her that she must not cling to him because his time on earth is done. And why that is important is that first of all, after the crucifixion they can’t just go back to the way things were – and secondly, the ascension is necessary so that the work of Jesus will no longer be constrained to his little corner of Israel – but will spread to the four corners of the earth.

And it’s not just the idea of the physically present Jesus she is going to have to let go of. If she wants to share in that resurrected life of new life and rebirth – she is going to have to let go of everything that is holding her back – she may have to let go of her anger at the Romans for crucifying Jesus, she may have to have to let go of her feelings of resentment at the disciples for handing Jesus over, betraying Jesus, and falling asleep while Jesus was praying when he very clearly asked them to stay awake. She may have to let go of her bitterness toward a world that allows an innocent man to die. She may have to let go of her wrath toward her own people for their maleficent fickleness – who on Palm Sunday lauded Jesus as King – and then jeered Jesus just a few days later when he really needed them.

But let me be clear - there is a big difference between letting go and forgetting. Letting go – means having a willingness to move forward, to not be stuck in the muck and mire of past wrongs. Forgetting is pretty near impossible, and forgiving can be a very long process indeed.

What we celebrate today is the resurrection. We celebrate that when one thing ends – and when we let go and give it to God, and trust that God will do something good and meaningful and life-giving to that of which we let go – we too will live the resurrected life.

God invites us to new life each and every moment of our lives – not to cling to the past – but to be engaged in our lives right here and right now. It is just as Joseph Campbell, the preeminent expert in comparative mythology and religion who wrote: We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.


Along with being coauthor of "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" set during the final days of America's "first television war," Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations, an international communication firm based in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

Vietnam War Literature May Hold Key to Current US Image Overseas

 America's government leaders—many of whom know the Vietnam War only through stories told by their parents  and grandparents—are looking back at that painful conflict to understand our current position in the world with regard to extended foreign conflicts, caring for veterans, the media's shifting role in society, and especially how our nation treats refugees—the most vulnerable victims of war.

The wave of interest in a 40-year-old war that divided our nation and defined a generation accounts for the popularity of current literary offerings on Vietnam—among them “The Sympathizer,” “Tribe,” and the just published, “Escape from Saigon  - a Novel."  In addition these and other books, there has been a recent spate of films, TV documentaries and theatrical productions over the past year that shed light on a war that ended abruptly on April 30, 1975. 

Vietnam War refugee Viet Nguyen’s 2016 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “The Sympathizer,” shines a harsh light on conflicted foreign allegiances and an America-centric view of foreign conflicts. The “Sympathizer” stands up as an allegory for today’s new hyper nationalism and fear of the other.  Nguyen’s companion book of 2015,  “The Refugees” further examines the subtle complexities and conflicts of leaving ones native country for a new home in America.

Though not strictly a Vietnam War book, “Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging,” by Sebastian Junger, examines the plight of returning combat veterans by likening the military to tribal societies where individuals share loyalty, a common purpose and depend on one another for survival. Junger argues that post traumatic stress may stem partly from the loss of community veterans face as they try to adjust to civilian life. When a 22-year-old Army sergeant, who has made life-and-death decisions as leader of a four man-squad in combat, comes home to be surrounded by people who know nothing of his experience the loneliness sets in and becomes overwhelming.

Published in January of 2017, “Escape from Saigon - a Novel” by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo looks at how the Vietnam War shaped contemporary American attitudes in a fast-paced fictional account that compresses the action into the final 30 days of that three-decades-long conflict and put the endgame in context through flashbacks, old news accounts and barroom ramblings about political decisions made in the 1950s that set the stage for war.

The novel recounts the events of April 1975 through the lives of ordinary people most affected by the fighting and political bungling of the powerful they encounter. In addition to Vietnamese and American civilians there are journalists, French expatriates, US Embassy staffers and CIA operatives, all seeking escape by any means possible as the North Vietnamese Army tightens its stranglehold on Saigon—a city once known as the Paris of the Orient. Indeed, the final scenes of “Escape” recount the courage of hordes of Vietnamese refugees and the aviators and sailors who helped them in the biggest air-sea rescue in history, and an America that welcomed them with open arms.

The story is as much about the war as it is about the evolution of media, with much of the plot being about the journalists who covered what was dubbed America’s first television war.  Correspondents back then devoted their youth to covering Vietnam, often for a decade or more and shaped public opinion through vivid, nearly simultaneous TV pictures of battles and newspaper exposés on the Pentagon Papers and My Lai Massacre. “Escape’s” Lisette Vo, NBS-TV’s first Vietnamese-American war correspondent, foreshadows the rise of women in journalism and the advent of 24/7 cable news, while the hard hitting Sam Esposito of The Washington Legend rips into three presidents—especially Dick Nixon—with investigative reports that changed the course of history.

Access to news and information was fairly limited in 1975. There were only three networks. Their anchors were trusted, larger-than-life figures Americans invited into their living rooms. The evening news was appointment TV and we all watched and read essentially the same news—a far cry from today’s media environment with fragmented cable TV audiences and fake Internet news outlets. The technology has improved, but with it Americans lost its sense of community.

In addition to the several books on the Vietnam War, Miss Saigon will be reprised at The Broadway in March and simulcast to local movie theaters in HD to reach a large nationwide audience. Lana Noone’s new play, “Children of the April Rain” about Operation Babylift, the ill-fated evacuation of mixed heritage children during the last days of the Vietnam War is opening around the country. Rory Kennedy’s film "Last Days in Vietnam" and Ken Burns latest PBS-TV documentary "The Vietnam War" add to the contemporary offerings on the subject.

For a live interview with Morris and Pirozzolo on

America's Best Selling Authors Series 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Escape from Saigon - a Novel” by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo was published in January of 2017 by Skyhorse Publishing, New York, NY, 264 pages and lists at $24.95. Further information and an excerpt are available at: www.escsapefromsaigon.com

 

 

Cyber Threats to Intensify Says "Cyber Security 2016" Report from Boston Global Forum

“While cyber-security measures continue to evolve positively, cyber threats from crime, terrorism, militarization, espionage, and censorship will continue or worsen in 2016.”

That’s how Boston Global Forum sees the future of cybersecurity in a just-published report titled “Cyber Security 2016” aimed at helping government, business leaders and individuals effectively deal with increasingly sophisticated and frequent cyber threats.

Cyber Security 2016 was published to coincide with the first annual Global Cybersecurity Day, to be held each year starting at noon, December 12 or 12-12-12. As part of the first Global Cybersecurity Day, policy makers, scholars and experts convened at Harvard University to air latest cyber security issues and announce publication of Cyber Security 2016.

“Conflict over cyber security will increase between the West and the states and criminals from which cyber threats emanate." This includes individual and terrorist groups from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Argentina, and many developing countries, according to the report.

“Increasing technical sophistication and vulnerabilities in infrastructure, military systems, industrial control systems, the internet of things (LoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, and mobile platforms will increase opportunities for states, criminals, and thrill-seekers to discover zero-day vulnerabilities and benefit from cyber tactics. 

“Individualized encryption and the use of crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin will continue to facilitate anonymous crime and terrorism, and thereby complicate the cyber-security landscape in 2016.” 

The report calls for a number of solutions including secure backdoors for legitimate governance and additional regulation of crypto-currencies.

For the individuals, business owners and professionals, the same advice still applies: practice good cyber hygiene. That means changing passwords frequently and, despite warnings to the contrary, do not use obvious passwords such as “1234” and birthdays. Though most folks say it can’t happen to me, savvy Internet users still get duped into responding to email requests for bank account and Social Security numbers.

Corr Analytics of New York contributed to the writing of this report. Corr Analytics was founded in 2013 and provides analysis to media, nonprofit and business clients, with a focus on strategic and international political risk. 

A complete copy of the 40-page Cyber Security 2016 report may be downloaded at: 2016 Report 

As part of the Global Cybersecurity Day program at Harvard, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung were named World Leaders for Peace, Security and Development and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received the World Leader in Cyberspace Award. For Prime Minister Abe’s acceptance speech click here. Consul General Tsutomu Himeno accepted the award on behalf of Prime Minister Abe from gov. Michal Dukakis, co-founder of Boston Global Forum.

Global Cybersecurity Day was created to inspire the shared responsibility of the world’s citizens to protect the Internet’s safety and transparency. As part of this initiative, Boston Global Forum also calls upon citizens of goodwill to follow it's Ethics Code of Conduct for Cyber Peace and Security (ECCC). 

You may also be interested in Dick Pirozzolo's article:  DDOS Attacks Threaten Foreign Currency Exchange in E-Forex Magazine.

Boston Global Forum, a think tank, with ties to Harvard University faculty, includes noted scholars, business leaders and prominent journalists among its leadership.

Vietnam-US Bond Grows Stronger Through Boston Global Forum Efforts

Dick Pirozzolo serves on a panel at Vietnam CEO Summit 2015 organized by Boston Global Forum and Richard Moore Associates. Boston Global Forum, a think tank founded by Tuan Anh Nguyen and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, fosters US ties with Vietnam through cultural events, innovation projects, peace initiatives and trade.

I was honored to serve on a panel during the Vietnam CEO Summit 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City, where over 100 of Vietnam’s top executives and business owners came to learn about American marketing principles and how to penetrate markets in the US.

Since I had worked very hard on reconciliation and trade between the US and Vietnam during the mid-1990s and had been absent for a long time, it was gratifying to see how much tighter the bond between Americans and Vietnamese had become over the years and how welcoming the delegates were to ideas from the USA.

The July CEO Summit featured Harvard professors, journalists and marketing experts. Prof. John Quelch of Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration led the all-day discussion, reviewing Harvard Graduate School of Business case studies covering The New York Times transition to the digital age and its formula for determining how many free views visitors get before a paywall pops up.  Quelch also reviewed Amazon’s phenomenal success as an online marketer, comparing retailing in Vietnam, which is extremely fragmented, to the US. The event was organized by Boston Global Forum, a Boston think tank, founded by former Governor Michael Dukakis and Tuan Anh Nguyen, who is responsible for opening Vietnam to the Internet, and Richard Moore Associates, a Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City marketing firm. In addition to organizing this event, Boston Global Forum takes on a key issue each year aimed at the promotion of peace and security in the world. This year The Forum is focusing on establishing an ethical code of conduct for the Internet in light of the rising tide of state-sponsored and other cyber threats around the world. 
 
When conference delegates asked how to promote Vietnam in the US, I urged them to rely on cultural events—including Vietnamese and Western classical musical performances—and celebrity to promote their nation. One recent example of the power of celebrity: President Clinton’s recent visit to Hanoi was big news in the US and had enormous impact by placing Vietnam in the front of Americans’ minds.  

The close relationship between Vietnam and the US is seen in ways big and small. For instance, you know Vietnam is integrated into our popular culture when Modern Family character Cam Tucker can pull off  a comical bit on how American’s can’t pronounce Pho, the traditional Vietnamese breakfast soup. Cam tries a couple of pronunciations on his adopted Vietnamese daughter's pediatrician who finally quips, "I wouldn’t know, I’m Japanese."

 Modern Family is the most popular show on American television, drawing an audience of 10 million—that means the writers are counting on a huge cross section of Americans to have enough awareness of Vietnam to get the joke. And, when you can comfortably bring in humor, that’s a big deal in terms of a positive relationship.
 

A stylish woman shops on Dong Khoi Street, the Newbury Street of Saigon.

Since the US formally recognized Vietnam in July of 1995 and granted most favored nation status, this nation of 90 million has become an important business and trading partner, travel destination and major ally in maintaining peace in Southeast Asia. Imports from Vietnam are increasing steadily with last year's imports totaling $30.6 billion. US exports to Vietnam are $5.7 billion. In the first four months of 2015, Americans imported products worth $15 billion from Vietnam and sold $2.6 billion worth of goods. Worldwide, Vietnam is increasing its exports of manufactured goods—electronic components and clothing, specifically. According to Vietnam News Service, the export of staples such as rice, coffee and seafood have all fallen off slightly while the value of crude oil exports fell by 45%. In Ho Chi Minh City signs of greater wealth, style and nightlife, especially among millennials, are everywhere. 

About 400,000 Americans and 100,000 Canadians are expected to visit Vietnam in 2015 according to Vietnamese government statistics. Vietnam is very welcoming, I never felt any residual animosity during my involvement with Vietnam over the years. Notably over 60 percent of the populations was born after the American War ended in April of 1975—40 years ago. A prominent Vietnamese leader who was a child at the time said of those years, we just wanted the war to end.

“To put that 40-year time span in perspective, 1985 marked the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II and Americans were driving BMWs and Toyotas with nary a thought and the Japanese and Germans were listening to Phil Collins and Journey. 
 
Panelists are from left  Moderator Nguyen Duc Son, brand manager, Richard Moore Associates, Michael Morris, journalists and author, Prof. Thomas Patterson, Harvard University, Tuan Anh Nguyen, chairman and co-founder of Boston Global Forum, Nguyen Van Tuong, president Tram Huong Khanh Hoa, a major agar wood supplier, Dick Pirozzolo, Pirozzolo Company Public Relations and editorial board of Boston Global Forum and Llewelyn King, host, White House Chronicles airing on PBS.

Click here for additional details and photos of Vietnam during the 90s
 

Two young executives at the Vietnam CEO 2015 Summit. One big change: Ho Chi Minh City has become more fashionable over the past 20 years. Navy blue and charcoal Western suits are commonplace among men and, except for special occasions and among hotel, airline, and conference greeters, the demure Ao Dai is seldom seen in the city.

Boston Global Forum—Birth of an Institution in Boston

Guest Blog by Llewellyn King

Executive Producer and Host 'White House Chronicle" on PBS

A while ago, Llewellyn and I became involved in Boston Global Forum as members the Editorial Board. Llewellyn has since covered this new think tank, focused largely on reducing tensions among nations of the Pacific; predominantly China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and The Philippines. With the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) now being vigorously debated among Congressional leaders, the work of Boston Global Forum has gained a heightened level of currency in an increasingly interdependent world of nations. Here are Mr. King's observations.

Do think tanks really think?

It's not that these organizations – mostly centered in Washington, D.C., but also scattered across the country – don't harbor some fine minds among their scholars and fellows. But the problem is we know what they think – and have often known for a long time. The rest is articulation.

Among Washington think tanks, we know what to expect from the Brookings Institution: earnest, slightly left-of-center analysis of major issues. Likewise, we know that the Center for Strategic and International Studies will do the same job with a right-of-center shading, and a greater emphasis on defense and geopolitics.


What the tanks provide is support for political and policy views; detailed argument in favor of a known point of view. By and large, the verdict is in before the trial has begun. There a few exceptions, house contrarians. The most notable is Norman Ornstein, who goes his own way at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Ornstein, hugely respected as an analyst and historian of Congress, often expresses opinions in articles and books which seem to be wildly at odds with the orthodoxy of AEI.


A less-celebrated role of the think tanks is as resting places for the political elite when their party is out of power. Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, rumored to be favored as a future Republican secretary of state, is hosted at AEI. National Security Adviser Susan Rice was comfortable at Brookings between service in the Clinton and Obama administrations. At any time, dozens of possible office holders reside at the Washington think tanks, building reputations and waiting.


My interest in think tanks and their thinkers has led me to what might be developing into a think tank, although it’s too early to say. It’s so early that it has no headquarters, secretariat or paid staff. But this nascent think tank has gathered a loose faculty from a coterie of public intellectuals, mainly in and around Boston, and abroad in Hanoi, Tokyo and Berlin.


It’s called the Boston Global Forum. Formed in 2012, it’s led by two very different but, apparently, compatible men: Michael Dukakis, former Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential nominee, and Nguyen Anh Tuan, who founded a successful internet company in Vietnam and now lives in Boston.


The concept of the forum is to study and discuss a single topic for a year. Last year, in forums and
Internet hookups between Boston and Asian and European cities, the topic was security in the South and East China seas, where war could easily erupt over territorial disputes. After a year of discussion, the participants concluded that a framework for peace in the region needs to be established and that current international arrangements and organizations don’t go far enough in that direction. This year’s topic is cybersecurity.


The Boston Global Forum has strong ties to the faculties at Harvard and Northeastern University, where Dukakis is a professor. Most forum meetings take place on the Harvard campus. Two of the forum’s most conspicuous champions are Harvard professors Joseph Nye and Tom Patterson. Patterson’s office at the John F. Kennedy School of Government serves as a kind of de facto headquarters.


This new entrant into the think tank cohort is very East Coast-tony, and very energetic. This year it has plans for meetings in Vietnam, Tokyo and somewhere in Europe, and has attracted media heavyweights like David Sanger of The New York Times and Charles Sennott, one of the founders of the online GlobalPost.


As the Boston Global Forum is a new think tank, questions abound: Will it get funding? Will it find premises and staff ? Will it get public recognition?

The big question about anything that looks like a think tank is, will thinking happen there? Will the Boston Global Forum be a crucible for big ideas? Or will it, like other think tanks, develop its own binding ideology?


Will the Boston Global Forum become, like so many, a smooth propaganda machine? Or will it be a place where the outlandish can live with the orthodox?


For Boston Global Forum's latest report on easing tensions in the Pacific please visit:

Download BGF Report on Framework for Peace and Security
 

Llewellyn King
Executive Producer and Host,
"White House Chronicle" on PBS;
Columnist, Hearst-New York Times Syndicate;
Columnist, The Huffington Post;
Commentator, SiriusXM Satellite Radio

60 Minutes, North Korea Bring Cyber Threats into Focus

The 60 Minutes' feature titled "Swiping Your Card" and the alleged North Korean attack against Sony have brought cyber risks into sharper focus than ever before.

 60 Minutes outlined the trail a credit card swipe can take to the dark side of the Web where an active market in stolen account information exists. In addition to theft, cyber attacks can be launched for political reasons. Most recently Sony claims its servers were hacked "in apparent retaliation for the Kim Jong-un baiting comedy The Interview," reports The Guardian.

For insight into the current state of cyber security we asked Anders Corr, Ph.D who is a global authority on the subject and founder of Corr Analytics, a risk advisor to government and industry. The interview with Dr. Corr first appeared in the current edition of FCM360 Forex Summit.

Q. Can you tell our readers about  Corr Analytics and how you got into the cyber security business?
 
A. As security moves from physical structures to algorithms in the cloud, we believe there will be tremendous growth in cyber-security technologies, budgets, and contracts. We are exploring teaming agreements with lawyers and technologists who specialize in cyber-security, cyber-insurance, and actuarial approaches to cyber-risk.
 
Q. We’ve heard the term Cyber-War. Is it a war?
 
A. Yes. The United States, China, and Russia are putting  resources into cyber-defense. An estimated 3% of the US defense budget is spent on cyber-defense, including public and black-budget expenditures. The US almost certainly has the most powerful cyber capabilities of any government. While the military possibilities of cyber strategies are barely known, military use of cyber strategies will grow exponentially in the coming decades.
 
The US and Israel developed the Stuxnet virus, which they used to take control of and overheat Iranian centrifuges sometime before 2010. Stuxnet was thought to have destroyed up to 20% of Iranian uranium enrichment capacity. Attacks like this could take control of nuclear arsenals or asset trading algorithms, with potentially disastrous results.
 
Q. What motivates cyber attacks and who are the players?
 
A. Cyber attacks are launched by governments, criminals, terrorists, and teenagers. Unfortunately, these categories overlap. The motivations for cyber-attacks range from stealing data to disruption of enemy processes. 
 
Q. What can the US do to protect us from cyber attacks?
 
A. The US and NATO needs to spend much more on cyber defense -- on the order of 5 to 10% of total defense spending -- to both defend against cyber attacks and to take the offensive if necessary. We need to get ahead of the Chinese and Russians, and determine whether cyber is an offense-dominant technology in warfare. If it is offense dominant, then the first mover has an advantage, and we need to consider going on the offensive rather than passively building cyber defenses as the French built the Maginot line prior to WWII.
 
At the very least the US needs to hit back against offending countries for not keeping their cyber-criminals and cyber-troops under control. If a cyber attack emanating from Russia results in a major loss to the United States economy, then cyber tactics can be used to recoup those costs, plus penalties, from Russia. No penalty invites further attacks.
 
Q. What about out and out theft?
 
A. On July 25, 2013, the worst cyber theft to date was announced -- a loss of $300 million. Ukrainian and Russian hackers stole 160 million credit card numbers from Visa, J.C. Penney, Jet Blue, and Carrefour, selling the data for $10 to $50 per card. The costs were never recouped from Russia or Ukraine.
 
Q. What is out government doing to thwart attacks?
 
A. The U.S. needs to do more against autocratic regimes that are targeting the United States and our allies. Russia has flown nuclear bombers near Europe recently, and China frequently harasses Japanese planes and ships in their own 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. The U.S. should be using its cyber superiority to degrade the abilities of the Russian and Chinese militaries, and bring them to the negotiating table on issues that matter to us -- including nuclear proliferation, the China Seas, and Ukraine.
 
Q. Retailers, financial institutions, governments and the rich and famous have become cyber targets. Can an small companies—PR firms included—expect to fly under the radar?
 
A.Small businesses need to educate themselves on cyber-hygiene, and practice due diligence by asking their partners, suppliers, and contractors to disclose their cyber-security practices and preparedness. Small businesses, however, need to team with larger businesses to lobby government and provide greater cyber-security protections to the companies that compose the U.S. economy.
 

Former Mass Gov Michael Dukakis Leads Forum On Asia-Pacific Tensions

Boston Global Forum today (August 4, 2014) addressed the United States continuing role in the Pacific in the face of mounting tensions between China, Japan and Vietnam.

Michael Dukakis and Joseph Nye moderated the discussion at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge with delegates from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Washington, DC participating by online video links.

In recognition of the 100th anniversary of Britain's declaration of war against Germany, the talks began with a review of lessons to be learned from so-called inevitable wars followed by strategies to improve current relations among Asia-Pacific nations and how to avoid having disputed territories in the Pacific become flash points.

Prof. Richard Rosecrance (l), Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis and Prof Joseph Nye took part with delegates from around the world.

Boston Global Forum brings together international thought leaders into an open forum to address issues that affect the world at large and to serve as an inspirational role model for global collaboration. Its mission is to identify, discuss, and propose meaningful, creative, and practical solutions to profound and pressing societal issues.

A transcript of today's forum will be posted online in two weeks: Boston Global Forum

Boston Global Forum was founded two years ago by former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, chairman, and Distinguished Professor JD at Harvard University; John Quelch, Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Nguyen Anh Tuan, Editor-in-Chief, Boston Global Forum and the Founder and Chairman of VietnamNet Media Group and VietNet, the first Internet Service Provider in Vietnam.

The Forum has already had a positive impact on improving working conditions Asia’s manufacturing centers as part of its 2013 initiatives.

Boston Global Forum (http://www.bostonglobalforum.org)

Media may contact Dick Pirozzolo at (dick@pirozzolo.com) to arrange interviews or for further details.

Pirozzolo Company Public Relations (www.pirozzolo.com)