Minh Phuong Vu is a PhD candidate in international relations at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, the Australian National University (ANU) and a #AIIANextGen fellow. Her research interest ranges from foreign policy analysis, territorial disputes in the South China Sea to Southeast Asian security and alignment tendencies. Minh’s doctoral thesis examines the evolution of Vietnam’s foreign policy and perception of the national interests after the Cold War, focusing on exploring the effects of lessons of history on contemporary policy decisions.