Lena Le, PhD
College of Arts and Sciences
Senior Lecturer
Biography
Dr. Lena Le received her Ph.D. in International Relations from Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) in 2017, and her Master’s degree in International Relations from the Australian National University (ANU), Australia, in 2009. Before joining VinUniversity, she served as Head of the International Relations Division, Faculty of International Studies, at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU and a member of the Advisory Council on Social and Behavioral Sciences at VNU
Her international academic experience includes participation in visiting scholar and visiting fellow programs at leading institutions, including the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. (2024–2025), the Australian National University (2018), the University of South Australia (2016), and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) (2014).
Her research centers on Asia–Pacific international relations, ASEAN political–security cooperation, regional institutional dynamics, Vietnam’s foreign policy, and the role of intangible factors in shaping international outcomes. Dr. Le is the author of a monograph on ASEAN centrality and has published many academic works, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, policy papers, and conference proceedings in national and international outlets.
Her academic contributions have been recognized through several prestigious fellowships and awards, including the Fulbright Vietnamese Scholar Program, the Australia–APEC Women in Research Fellowship, the Sasakawa Fellowship, the Endeavour Research Fellowship, the DAAD Fellowship, the Ford Foundation Scholarship, and ASEAN University Network Scholarship.
- ASEAN Political – Security Cooperation
- Asia – Pacific International Relations
- Vietnam’s Foreign Policy
- Regional Institutions & Multilateralism
- Intangible Factors in International Relations
- Normative Power & Soft Power
- Small State Diplomacy
- Major Power Competition
- Social Network Analysis in International Relations
- International Relations in the Asia–Pacific
- International Negotiation
- International Relations in Southeast Asia
- Research Methods in International Relations
- Intangible Factors in International Relations
- Theories of International Relations
- Regionalism and ASEAN Studies
- Vietnam Foreign Policy
- Monograph: Lena Le (2018), ASEAN’s Centrality in security and political cooperation in East Asia from 1991 to 2015: an analysis from Social Network Analysis approach, VNU Press.
- Lena Le (2020), Chapter 4: ‘Intangible structure in the Asia Pacific’, Structure of the Asia Pacific: theory and practice, pp. 256-314, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi.
- Lena Le (2022), Vietnam’s combination of national force and the force of the epoque: a case study of Vietnam ASEAN relations, The Communist Party of Vietnam: Empowering National Progress, pp. 396-408, Moscow University Press, ISBN 978-5-19-011814-8, DOI: 10.55959/MSU978-5-19-011814-8-2022-1-432.
- Lena Le (2020), ’30 years of sustainable development in Vietnam: what the country has achieved and the challenge ahead’, Mekong Connect Magazine, volume 2 issue 1 June 2020, Asian Vision Institute.
- Lena Le (2020), “Nationalism, Heroism and media in Vietnam’s war on Covid-19”, East Asia Forum.
- Lena Le (2020), ‘Mekong Regional Cooperation: Prospects for an Emergence of a New Regional Sectoral Mechanism’, VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 6, No 5 (2020) 543-562=
- Lena Le (2020), ‘How Has Vietnam been Flattening the Curve of COVID-19?’, Mekong Connect, 2 (2), 2020, pp. 12-15
- Lena Le (2020), ASEAN – New Zealand: a forty-five-year partnership in the changing Asia-Pacific Strategic Environment, Vietnam Social Sciences, No. 6, pp.18-35.
- Lena Le (co-author) (2021), ‘Forging a Strategic partnership in the Indo-Pacific region: A Vietnam’s diplomatic direction’, Political Sciences, DOI: 10.1080/00323187.2021.1957955. (In English) (Q2)
- Lena Le (2021), “Normative power in international relations”, Political Theories, 524 (10-2021), pp.135-142.
- Lena Le (2021) (co-author), ‘The challenges faced by Vietnam’s international integration’, Independent Vietnam: National interests and values, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Moscow. (In Russian)
- Lena Le (2021), “ASEAN’s Efforts in the Fight against the Covid-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Social Network Analysis”, Times of Uncertainty – National Policies and International Relations under COVID-19 in Southeast-Asia and Beyond, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft (ISBN: 978-3-8487-8632-9)
- Lena Le (2022) “Vietnam: Rising from the Ashes of War to Contributing to Regional Peace”, Mekong Connect, 4(1), pp.30-33.
- Lena Le (co-author) (2022), ‘ASEAN Centrality and Regional Security in the Context of Great Power Rivalry’, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network Policy Brief No 91, https://cms.apln.network/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/PB-91-Ha-Le.pdf.
- Lena Le (2023), “Awareness of Nonmaterial Factors in Theory of International Relations”, Vietnam Social Sciences Review, 4 (184), pp. 28-36.(ISSN: 1605-2811)
- Lena Le (2023), “The exercise of Normative Power by ASEAN and the EU: the Comparative Analysis”, Southeast Asian studies, p.3-13 (ISSN: 0868-2739)
- Lena Le (co-author) (2024), “Defining Small States in the Evolving Practice of International Relations”, Communist Review, 1051, p.96-103
- Lena Le (2024), Vietnam must manage its Trump-era expectations, East Asia Forum, https://doi.org/10.59425/eabc.1733176800 (ISSN: 1839-0242).
- Lena Le (2025), Small states from a Realist Perspective, Vietnam Social Sciences Review, 4(225), (ISSN: 1013-4328)
- Lena Le (2025), The emergence of non-material factors in International Relations, VNU-Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 11(5) (ISSN 2354-1172)
- 2017: Ph.D. in International Relations, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU–Hanoi)
- 2009: M.A. in International Relations, Australian National University (ANU), Australia
- 2007: B.A. in International Relations, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU–Hanoi)
- 2024: Fulbright Vietnamese Scholar Program
- 2018: Australia–APEC Women in Research Fellowship
- 2016: Sasakawa Fellowship
- 2015: Endeavour Research Fellowship
- 2014: Tran Thi Quynh Hoa Research Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University
- 2010: DAAD Fellowship
- 2008: Ford Foundation Scholarship
- 2005: ASEAN University Network Scholarship
