After the Vietnam War, unified Vietnam charted a twisty trajectory in search of its place in the world. This course went through five major turning points - in 1977, 1986, 1989, 2003, and 2014 – as the ruling Communist Party responded to fundamental changes in Vietnam’s strategic environment. Reflecting competing worldviews in the elites, these responses resulted from the struggle between two long-term choices: to reject the Western-led world order and oppose Western influence, or to accept the Western-led world order and adapt Western influence. At a deeper level and from a long historical perspective, this struggle was complicated primarily by Vietnam’s location vis-à-vis China and the major transoceanic routes. If the Vietnam War ended with the triumph of the anti-Western choice, the post-war period has seen Vietnam alternate between anti-Westernism and international integration. Decades of zig-zagging eventually turned Vietnam from an “outpost of socialism” and “spearhead of the world national liberation movement” to an “engaged and responsible member of the international community” and from a fierce opponent to a discreet ally of the United States, while not fundamentally shaking its commitment to denying Chinese regional dominance.

Not every potential environmental improvement is an opportunity for a successful environmental strategy. Success depends on the strategy’s fit with stakeholder demand, channels to capture value from stakeholders, and credibility assurances that the company’s environmental achievements are genuine, as well as its alignment with the company’s overall strategy and strategic resources. The case of Nike’s Considered sustainability initiatives illustrates environmental strategy’s promise and pitfalls. Nike’s Considered Boot was launched to considerable acclaim and received international awards for its advanced sustainability design. The Considered Boot’s rugged look clashed with the sleek styling and performance features that typified the Nike brand and offered few other benefits that enticed consumers. As Nike withdrew the Considered Boot from consumer markets, it leveraged its advanced apparel design expertise to develop more sustainable features for products and to produce tools for measuring products’ sustainability. By making these features and tools public, Nike helped its environmental group stakeholders assess environmental performance throughout the apparel industry. Nike thus aligned its environmental strategy with its nonmarket strategy by allowing environmental groups to pressure competitors to improve their performance to standards Nike had already achieved, thereby raising competitors’ costs.