Below is another Vietnam Studies Group exchange about Nick Turse's new book Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam (KATM). I responded to a colleague from the University of Arizona whose main criticisms are that Turse "tells us nothing new" and that he commits a sin of omission by excluding information that contradicts this colleague's theory - hypothesis … Continue reading Hagel Hearings & The Vietnam War/Kill Anything That Moves (KATM)
Commentary
The US Student Visa: It’s Not Rocket Science!
This is a slightly expanded version of a short article I wrote for Capstone Vietnam's StudyUSA Higher Education and Community College Fair Guides and for publication on a news website. For those of you whose dream it is to study in the USA but who worry about the visa process, worry no more! The truth is that US consular … Continue reading The US Student Visa: It’s Not Rocket Science!
Calling a Spade a Spade: Stanley Karnow, Stanley McChrystal & Vietnam
Below is a recent exchange on the Vietnam Studies Group (VSG) listserv. Members include Vietnam scholars and practitioners, current and former diplomats and spooks ("agents or people involved in espionage"), journalists, non-governmental (NGO) organization staff, etc. Quite a few are overseas Vietnamese (Việt kiều). Read from the bottom up. Bernard Kalb, the journalist and former US State Department spokesman during … Continue reading Calling a Spade a Spade: Stanley Karnow, Stanley McChrystal & Vietnam
Winning the Hearts & Minds of Young Vietnamese
Note: If you’re an employee of the US State Department, do not pass go, do not collect $200, close this tab immediately. This post contains a “sensitive” Wikileaks cable that originated in the US Embassy-Hanoi and commentary on the same. If you read it, you are breaking the law, not to mention disobeying Madam Secretary. Please pardon … Continue reading Winning the Hearts & Minds of Young Vietnamese
Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam
This post is quite obviously NOT about education or US-Vietnam educational exchange. It's about history, its impact on the present, and the United States' (in)ability to overcome its past. The German word that describes this process, Vergangenheitsbewältigung, implies dealing with, learning from, but also overcoming the past. It's about a horrible truth that Nick Turse tells his fellow citizens and the world about … Continue reading Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam
The “Agent Issue”: Yes, No, Maybe
aka "Talking Out of Both Sides of Its Mouth" - The US State Department will have nothing to do with education agents, the US Commerce Department facilitates agent matchmaking for US institutions of higher education as part of its Gold Key Service and the US Homeland Security Department sponsors an "Agent Internet Lounge" at a … Continue reading The “Agent Issue”: Yes, No, Maybe
“Unaccredited foreign universities to be fined”
No, not in the USA, unfortunately, but in Kenya. This is a textbook example of how one country can learn from another in the finest tradition of comparative education in particular and comparative studies in general. In this case, Kenya and the US have a teacher-student relationship. Shut down the unaccredited education companies (or for-profit enterprises masquerading … Continue reading “Unaccredited foreign universities to be fined”
Internet Penetration, Social Media & Student Recruitment
40 years ago this week in the waning months of the American War, as it's known in Vietnam, US bombs were raining down on Hanoi in what came to be known as "The Christmas Bombings." This morning, sitting in my office in downtown Hanoi, I listened to children singing Christmas songs in a nearby kindergarten and thought about … Continue reading Internet Penetration, Social Media & Student Recruitment
MBA 2012: Its Image & Identity
Below is a guest post by Loek Hopstaken (b. 1951), a business consultant, management trainer & MBA professor, working in both The Netherlands & Vietnam. His areas of expertise include leadership, communication and human resource management. The image of MBA: an all-round education in management that offers in-depth knowledge and the latest insights in a … Continue reading MBA 2012: Its Image & Identity
“Overseas study consultancy put under no control, students suffer”
VietNamNet Bridge – The number of students becoming the victims of overseas study consultancy firms’ trickeries has been increasing. Meanwhile, the firms cannot be prosecuted for their swindling, because there has been no regulation on the punishments. This recent article, the latest in a large number that I've seen over the years, documents abuses perpetrated by … Continue reading “Overseas study consultancy put under no control, students suffer”
An International Educator in Vietnam 
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