Historically, Vietnam's geographical power was more or less improved, partly due to the "Southward March" of the Vietnamese feudal government and the "Territorial Development" policy of the French colonialists. However, due to the low emphasis on private trade, limited foreign trade and more priority given to the mainland than to the sea, little investment in building technical infrastructure of the Vietnamese under the monarchy, the monopoly of foreign trade of the French colonial government

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... well as the country of Vietnam was always divided and warred, so the geographical potentials of Vietnam have not been properly exploited. From 1986 up to now, due to the renewal of geo-strategic awareness and actions, especially in proactive international integration, promoting investment in the development of sea and land infrastructure, the power of Vietnam's geography is improving quite rapidly. However, geopolitical competition pressure from the East Sea (South China Sea) and Mekong Sub-region is increasing, particularly China's ambition to monoplize the East Sea as well as the trend of gathering world forces on sides and axes, the decline of multilateralism and globalization due to strategic competition from major countries are creating great challenges for Vietnam's geographical power. In a new context, Vietnam can become a center for attracting foreign investment, a regional trade bridge, an "anchor" in security-defence in the Western Pacific-Indian Ocean. Conversely, Vietnam could become a geopolitical disaster because of its geographical and political sensitivities in the region. This largely depends on Vietnam's renewed efforts to expand its strategic space, both in geo-physical and cyberspace.