Vietnam, 50 years on

In a week marked by Vietnam's 50th reunification anniversary, GZERO World delivers a powerful, thoughtful episode. Host Ian Bremmer sits down with Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer, and historian Mai Elliott, to explore not just the scars of war but the resilience and reinvention that followed.

Nguyen movingly recalls a refugee childhood steeped in 'melancholy, rage, anger, bitterness', painting a raw portrait of postwar identity. Elliott, who witnessed the war's brutal toll firsthand, cuts through politics with one haunting truth: by the end, she didn't care who won - she just wanted peace.

Yet, the podcast doesn't linger in the past. It smartly pivots to Vietnam's striking modern balancing act: a nation thriving economically yet threading a diplomatic needle between two giants - China and the US. As Elliott warns, cosying up too closely to either could cost Vietnam dearly. Nguyen ties it all together, reminding us that Vietnam's pragmatism is centuries in the making.


This episode is rich, human and sharply relevant - a masterclass in connecting history to geopolitics. Whether you know little about Vietnam or think you know it all, this conversation will leave you thinking twice.