Today marks the release of “Nothing is Impossible”, the book by former American Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius describes a 20-year story of daring diplomacy and a careful thawing of tensions between Vietnam and the US.
Today Vietnam is one of America’s strongest international partners, with a thriving economy and a population that welcomes American visitors.
Attending the online launching are the author whose term in Vietnam during 2014-2017, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc, and Executive Director at AmCham Vietnam Mary Tarnowka.
| Ambassador Ted Osius and his book. |
The book conveys a message of the meaning and significance of trust building and mutual respect, promoting the reconciliation and cooperation between the two countries, Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc said, adding that it’s a very valuable reference for researchers, historians, scholars, students and those who directly engage in handling the Vietnam-US relations.
Ambassador Ted Osius served from 2014 to 2017 as US Ambassador to Vietnam, a country he has loved since first serving there in the 1990s when he helped open the US consulate and later when he was one of the first diplomats at the US Embassy in Hanoi just after normalization of relations.
Ambassador Osius devised and implemented strategies to deepen security ties, signed tens of billions of dollars in commercial deals, expanded educational exchanges, concluded agreements on trade, law, and environmental protection, and addressed honestly the US and Vietnam’s difficult past.
During his ambassador term in Vietnam in 2014-2017, the bilateral relations witnessed the visit by Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong to the US in 2015.
Ted Osius is the first US Ambassador to Vietnam has been bestowed the Presidential Friendship Medal.
He inspired others by his bike tours to many parts of Vietnam.
Ted Osius has offered a vivid account, starting in the 1990s, of the various forms of diplomacy that made this reconciliation possible.
He appreciated the leaders who put aside past traumas to work on creating a brighter future, including senators John McCain and John Kerry, two Vietnam veterans and ideological opponents who set aside their differences for a greater cause, and Pete Peterson—the former POW who became the first US ambassador to a new Vietnam.
Osius has also drawn upon his own experiences working first-hand with various Vietnamese leaders and traveling the country on a bicycle to spotlight the ordinary Vietnamese people who have helped bring about their nation’s extraordinary renaissance.
“Nothing is Impossible” – with a foreword by former Secretary of State John Kerry – tells an inspiring story of how international diplomacy can create a better world.
