SOURCE: “The Pandora's Box of ‘Doi Moi’: the Open-Door Policy and Contemporary Theatre in Vietnam,” in New Theatre Quarterly, Vol. XIII, No. 52, November, 1997, pp. 372–385.

In the following essay. Diamond examines contemporary Vietnamese drama.

Although the ‘open-door' policy, or doi moi, was largely adopted by the Vietnamese because other socialist and former socialist countries were encouraging free market economies, and Vietnam's own economy needed a radical opening-up to stimulate it, party leaders were not unaware of the risk posed by the policy to the traditional and developing national culture. A draft report of the Eighth Party Congress made in June 1996 stated that culture was of particular importance during the doi moi period:

Culture is the spiritual foundation of society, a moving force to promote the socio-economic development and a target of socialism. All short- and long-termed cultural activities should be aimed toward a modern culture combined with a strong...