alternatehistory.com

As we all know, the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis was a cataclysm for political reforms in every less-than-democratic-country where the economy tanked - Thailand (where the crisis began), ruled by a military junta for the last 6 years, adopted its most democratic constitution to date (the only one drafted by an elected constituent assembly!), Indonesia's longtime dictator Suharto was deopsed, East Timor eventually became independent from Indonesian occupation, and Vietnam had its so-called "Student's Revolution", which forced the Communist party to give up its monopoly of power and hold its first direct Presidential and free National Assembly elections in 1999.

But what if Vietnam was unaffected by the crisis? Would the CPV still be in power today? Could Vietnam only have averted the crisis by retaining the Soviet-style command economy?
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