Dr. Phuong Vu is a program manager for Vietnam at USIP.

In this role, she oversees and leads engagement with Vietnamese partners and institutions working on the U.S. Department of Defense-led Vietnam Wartime Accounting Initiative, the USIP-led War Legacies and Reconciliation Initiative, youth dialogues, and U.S.-Vietnam relations. She also contributes to USIP projects in Laos and Cambodia and coordinates Vietnam activities for projects on regional law enforcement affairs and transnational criminal networks.

Before joining USIP, Dr. Vu worked for the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi for six years, where she provided analysis on U.S.-Vietnam relations and trust-building, as well as Vietnam’s relationship with China and Southeast Asia, media and political polarization, and disputes in the South China Sea. Earlier, she was a media practitioner for five years, dealing with the political economy of foreign direct investment and monetary policy.

Dr. Vu’s research interests include human security, social movement, political legitimacy, policy signaling and bargaining mechanisms for non-great powers in inter-state crises. She holds a doctorate from the University of Otago in New Zealand, a master’s from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia and a bachelor’s from the Military Science Academy of Vietnam.