"Warm inside, peaceful outside" - A step forward in strategic thinking to protect the Fatherland

At the 8th Central Conference, 13th tenure, the Central Committee summarized 10 years of implementing Resolution 8 of the 11th Central Committee on the Fatherland Protection Strategy in the new situation and issued a new Resolution on the Fatherland Protection Strategy in the new situation.

This is a Resolution with a particularly important position and role, defining policies and strategic solutions to protect the Fatherland in the complex context of the times. This National Defense Strategy continues to inherit the thoughts and principles of the law of our nation's cause of "building the country while defending it". At the same time, it also demonstrates the Party's new thinking and strategic vision in the context of international, regional and domestic changes.

Raising the level of thinking in building and defending the Fatherland

One of the guiding principles identified in the Strategy for National Defense in the new situation is to protect the Fatherland early, from afar, and to defend the country before it is in danger.

According to Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Cuong Quyet, Director of the Institute of National Defense Strategy, protecting the Fatherland early and from afar is a consistent and pervasive ideology of our Party through the congresses.

Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Cuong Quyet. (Photo: QĐND)

Protecting the Fatherland early means being early in thinking and awareness of viewpoints and guiding principles for action; early in identifying risks, preparing plans, forces, and means to protect the Fatherland. At the same time, protecting the Fatherland early also means being early in the ability to protect oneself internally, eliminating destabilizing factors both internally and externally.

Protecting the Fatherland from afar means being proactively vigilant to promptly detect and eliminate unfavorable factors. Protecting the Fatherland from afar in terms of geographical space and time, detects and eliminates the causes and conditions that create risks to our country.

“Protecting the Fatherland early and doing it well is a favorable condition and premise for protecting the Fatherland from afar and vice versa. Protecting the Fatherland from afar is to protect the Fatherland early and firmly protect the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

Emphasizing this, Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Cuong Quyet affirmed that with the motto "protecting the Fatherland early and from afar", we have the basis to plan strategies to protect the Fatherland right from peacetime. This is proactive in terms of strategy, well-prepared conditions to protect the country right in peacetime, to proactively respond promptly and effectively, ensuring victory in all situations.

Senior Lieutenant General, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Viet Khoa, Member of the Party Central Committee, Director of the National Defense Academy, said that protecting the Fatherland early and from afar does not simply refer to the scope of time and space from early and from afar. It is raised to a new level of thinking in the cause of building and firmly protecting the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland. This is expressed in a concentrated way, that is, building and developing the economy and society in conjunction with strengthening national defense and security, promoting the tradition of great national unity, proactively building a national defense associated with building a solid people's position, demonstrated by the Party's leadership policies and guidelines, creating a solid citadel that no force can destroy.

Senior Lieutenant General, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Viet Khoa. (Photo: QĐND)

Protecting the Fatherland early and from afar means building internal strength, capable of preventing and repelling the risk of war. Early on, having a strategic mindset and vision in researching and assessing the world and regional situation, accurately forecasting strategic situations, and promptly identifying the right partners and objects of the revolution. At the same time, having a guiding viewpoint and action motto to prepare for the development of plans and implementing measures to combat, prevent and eliminate destructive factors, causing instability from within. Early detection, combat and eliminate unfavorable factors, prevent war conflicts and resolve disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, promptly respond to non-traditional security threats, proactively prevent and combat to defeat all plots to violate national sovereignty and independence in the air, at sea, and in cyberspace.

Thus, the task of protecting the Fatherland early and from afar is the task of all people, everyone must have obligations and responsibilities, not just the Armed Forces.

Keep "warm inside, cool outside"

The motto of "keeping peace inside and outside" was first identified in the Vietnam National Defense Strategy in 2018 and this motto continued to be affirmed in the Resolution of the 13th Central Committee, Session 8, on the Strategy for National Defense in the new situation. According to Major General Vu Cuong Quyet, this is considered the concretization of the task of protecting the Fatherland early and from afar.

“Keeping peace inside and out means that the task of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation must focus on solving well domestic and foreign issues. We must identify, prevent and repel risks and challenges to our country, to our regime and to our people. Protecting the Fatherland must not only focus on preventing risks of invasion from outside, but also focus on maintaining political, economic, cultural and social stability, effectively fighting against signs of degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, self-evolution, self-transformation within the Party, effectively fighting against corruption and waste. Be proactive in prevention, in preventing and eliminating factors that can lead to sudden changes, be proactive in effectively handling situations, and not give hostile forces an excuse to intervene,” Major General Vu Cuong Quyet analyzed.

Our Party has determined that we must proactively prevent the risks of war and conflict early and from afar because building and defending the country has become the law of existence of the Vietnamese people. (Illustration: Government Newspaper)

Because the motto is to keep "warm inside, peaceful outside", our Party always emphasizes the need to have proactive strategies to prevent the risks of war and conflict early and from afar.

Sharing the same view, Senior Lieutenant General, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Viet Khoa emphasized that although peace and cooperation are still the major trends today, our Party has determined that we must proactively prevent the risks of war and conflict from early on and from afar because building the country and defending the country have become the law of existence of the Vietnamese people. That law is clearly demonstrated in the two strategic tasks of building socialism and firmly defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland. Our ancestors considered the best policy to defend the country to be a rich people, a strong country, a rich nation, and a strong army. In the Ho Chi Minh era, defending the Fatherland from early on and from afar, when the country was not yet in danger, was inherited and developed to a new level. We must firmly grasp, proactively foresee, and prepare for any peace or war.

That is also a strategic policy and solution for us to maintain a peaceful and stable environment for national development; at the same time, it is also a message expressing the Vietnamese people's desire for peace in order to maintain a peaceful and stable environment for sustainable development in the direction of socialism.

Source: https://vov.vn/chinh-tri/trong-am-ngoai-em-buoc-phat-trien-trong-tu-duy-chien-luoc-bao-ve-to-quoc-post1070500.vov