Intercultural (Mis)Understandings

For this article I found a Reuter's article from November 7, 2006. The article deals with Vietnam becoming the 150^th member of the World Trade Organization or WTO and what implications followed WTO membership. I chose this particular article because I am not overly familiar with Vietnam as a country in the present day and also because of how striking the article's headline was. When I say that I do not know much about present day Vietnam, I mean that I do not know the political climate there overly well. And I believe that this article will capitalize on people like me, who know more of Vietnams' history than of its hopes for the future, and will attempt to sway us in a very particular way.

This article is titled "Communist Vietnam will become WTO's 150^th Member." It is an amazingly visceral title. I believe the reaction to it for most will come from associations with the Vietnam War. And here the reporters are, forcing Vietnam not to be an independent country, but instead making them be a very particular type of country. Communism still strikes fear into many American's, especially those of the generations that came of age in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's. This headline takes a goodly portion of the population back to those eras and carries the connotations that they have of communism with it. But for those of a younger generation, I can see where this headline would be confusing. "Is there a non-communist Vietnam as well?" some may ask. The article does not clarify this for those who might have been confused.

The article also has several repetitions in it. The author's refer several times to "rules," "communism," and "economies." The economy part makes perfect sense when you consider that this is an article about a nation joining the World Trade Organization, however, the words used to preface "economy" have interesting implications. With each mention of economies, the authors talk about how Vietnam's financial status has increased since the economy is no longer "state-controlled." They imply that this is the reason why Vietnam has experienced such positive growth.

It then goes on to say that the entire world will benefit from Vietnam's "ascension" into the WTO. And it also mentions that nations entering the Organization are paying higher prices than ever before. They mention that Vietnam will open itself to outside banking and telecommunication interests, as well as the fact that Vietnam will have "limitsto the restrictions it can impose on foreign ownership of firms inside the country (WTO)." The WTO does indeed seem to be charging a higher price for admittance than many would pay. But for American, or Western, interests, it's better to limit the "foreign" countries agency in decision making.

In conclusion, this article seems to be serving a media guard dog function on the International level. It also communicates a very strong sense that the Western or American way of being governed and capitalism are the "correct" ways of doing things. This article serves as both a reminder that Vietnam is being brought into the International community through trade, but also takes a harsh tone, reminding us that the "world will be watching" to make sure that Vietnam remains in line with the "rules" so heavily touted by the article's authors. Is it 1968 again?