Dr. Andrew Wells-Dang leads the Vietnam War Legacies and Reconciliation Initiative at USIP and contributes to other projects on Southeast Asia. Dr. Wells-Dang joined USIP following over 15 years of experience with international nongovernmental organizations in Vietnam, including as Oxfam’s senior governance advisor and Catholic Relief Services’ country representative. He has also worked in China, Cambodia, and Laos. In these roles, he designed and led programs in education, disability rights, UXO/landmine risk reduction, environmental and health policy advocacy, and judicial reform with a range of Vietnamese governmental and non-state partners.

Dr. Wells-Dang's Washington experience includes his most recent role as deputy director for advocacy strategy and learning at CARE USA and Washington representative for the Fund for Reconciliation and Development. His research interests include U.S.-Vietnam relations, war legacies, land rights, civil society and governance. 

Dr. Wells-Dang holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Birmingham and a master’s in social change and development from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is the author of Civil Society Networks in China and Vietnam (Palgrave Macmillan). He is fluent in Vietnamese and proficient in Mandarin, French, and German. 

Publications By Andrew

Three Years After Coup, Myanmar’s Generals Face an Existential Crisis

Three Years After Coup, Myanmar’s Generals Face an Existential Crisis

Thursday, February 1, 2024

By: Priscilla A. Clapp;  Billy Ford;  Nang Raw;  Jason Tower;  Andrew Wells-Dang, Ph.D.

Three years after Myanmar’s military overthrew the country’s democratically elected government, the ruling generals — having suffered humiliating battlefield defeats — face an existential crisis. Victories by the diverse ranks of Myanmar’s resistance have invigorated their morale and they are tightening battlefield coordination despite slow progress toward political consensus. The military, meanwhile, is short of manpower and controls a shrinking percentage of the nation.

Type: AnalysisQuestion and Answer

Global Policy

Andrew Wells-Dang on Biden’s Trip to Vietnam

Andrew Wells-Dang on Biden’s Trip to Vietnam

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

By: Andrew Wells-Dang, Ph.D.

The comprehensive strategic partnership announced during President Biden’s trip to Vietnam marks 50 years of progress between the two countries and an “upgrade of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship to the highest level,” says USIP’s Andrew Wells-Dang, while adding a caveat that “it doesn’t mean Vietnam is becoming a U.S. ally.”

Type: Podcast

Biden’s Trip to Vietnam Highlights Two-Way Partnership

Biden’s Trip to Vietnam Highlights Two-Way Partnership

Thursday, September 7, 2023

By: Andrew Wells-Dang, Ph.D.

President Biden’s trip to Hanoi this Sunday signifies the culmination of a 50-year process of rebuilding bilateral relations after the end of the Vietnam War. It is expected that a new “comprehensive strategic partnership”— which is an upgrade from the existing agreement signed in 2013 — will be announced. While many may cast this achievement as a victory for the United States in its burgeoning competition with China, viewing this as a Vietnamese tilt away from China would be mistaken. Instead, the trip represents the evolution of hard-earned trust, cooperation and effective diplomacy — but it does not mean Vietnam is allied with Washington against Beijing.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyReconciliation

U.S. Sends Mixed Signals with Cluster Munitions and Chemical Weapons Calls

U.S. Sends Mixed Signals with Cluster Munitions and Chemical Weapons Calls

Thursday, July 13, 2023

By: Andrew Wells-Dang, Ph.D.

The Biden administration’s National Security Strategy is grounded in a “belief that the rules-based order must remain the foundation for global peace and prosperity.” Yet international security norms have come under increasing threat in the past decade, from China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea to the Syrian government’s use of mustard gas against its own people. Most egregiously, Russia’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine and continuing war crimes threaten basic principles of sovereignty and humanity in international law. Amid the many foreign policy challenges the United States faces, the question it must confront is how to uphold international norms, while still pursuing U.S. interests.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

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