Experts and scholars highlight that Resolution 22 offers an expanded framework for safeguarding national security, encompassing all sectors and domains. This approach leverages the collective efforts of Vietnam‘s political system and its people to defend the nation. By broadening its scope, the resolution aims to protect the Vietnamese Fatherland through a unified and wide-ranging strategy.
Major General, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Sau, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Defence Strategy and History, said that Resolution 22 represents a substantial shift in security thinking, from an approach primarily centred on “protection and response” towards one that is proactive, integrated, and development-oriented.
Protection is no longer limited to the Fatherland, the Party, the State, the people, the political system, and national sovereignty. It also encompasses economic, energy, environmental, and data security, while extending proactive protection to emerging domains such as cyberspace, outer space, seas and oceans, and low-altitude airspace.
The resolution lays greater emphasis on the requirement for “early and from afar” prevention, with threats to be identified and contained while they are still latent. It also calls for proactive response to compound and non-traditional threats, as well as new forms of security infringement.
Dr. Sau said the core novel point of Resolution 22 lies in the decisive shift from merely protecting security to ensuring security for development; from responding to threats to proactively preventing them; and from a focus on traditional security issues to protecting all sectors, all spaces, and all factors that help consolidate the strength of the country.
Global Security Situation
Senior Lieutenant General Pham The Tung, Deputy Minister of Public Security, said the global security situation remains complex and tense, with instability tending to spread around the world, adversely affecting the global economy and the momentum of recovery and growth. Science and technology, particularly dual-use technologies, AI, quantum technology, and biotechnology, are advancing rapidly, reshaping the structure of productive forces, the drivers of development, and the thinking and governance methods of many countries.
Non-traditional security threats are becoming increasingly complex, with challenges such as cyber security, transnational crime, water and food security, environmental pollution, climate change, disasters, and epidemics.
Cyberspace is being exploited to facilitate various forms of crime, including fraud, the illegal trade in drugs and weapons, money laundering, and gambling. It is also being used to disseminate fake news and false information, causing information disorder and adversely affecting security and order.
Dr. Sau noted that safeguarding national security must be one step ahead, rather than allowing technology to advance and only responding to threats once they emerge. All critical digital systems, databases, and AI platforms must be developed in adherence to the principle of ensuring “safety and security by design”.
The country needs to develop its own cyber security technology ecosystem, with priority given to the research, development, and mastery of key technologies. Digital sovereignty cannot be securely protected if the country excessively depends on foreign technologies, platforms, and infrastructure.
Another key priority is to make a decisive shift from “passive defence” to “proactive defence”. This requires strengthening intelligence and early warning capabilities, as well as data analytics, to identify threats before they develop into incidents.
Dr. Sau stressed that technology, no matter how advanced it becomes, cannot replace people. It is therefore necessary to improve digital capabilities, strengthen awareness of data protection, and equip officials, businesses, and the public with the skills needed to identify misinformation, deepfakes, and fraudulent schemes.
National governance capacity and interdisciplinary coordination must be strengthened. Digital security should not rest solely with the responsibility of specialised forces; instead, it must become a regular responsibility of the entire political system, technology companies, and the public.
Proactive Defence Strategy
Protecting national security “early and from afar” in the AI era requires anticipating risks, building capacity in advance, taking preventive action before vulnerabilities become crises, and acting before events force a reactive response. The ultimate goal is to safeguard national sovereignty and interests while creating a safe and trusted digital environment for rapid and sustainable national development.
Major General Sau noted that critical data, digital infrastructure, and essential information systems must be strictly protected, while domestic platforms, core technologies, and AI capabilities should be developed to reduce dependence on foreign technologies in strategic sectors.
The country needs to develop a legal framework that is sufficiently responsive, flexible, and risk-based, with clearly defined responsibilities of organisations, businesses, and individuals. Testing and safety assessment should also be intensified for high-impact AI systems, especially in areas directly related to national defence, security, finance, energy, and critical infrastructure.
Resolution 22 Implementation
The 3rd plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee released Resolution 22-NQ/TW on the national security strategy on July 28, 2026.
Nguyen Quang Truong, Deputy Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Central-Level Party Agencies, emphasized the importance of strengthening strategic forecasting capabilities and proactively responding to emerging forms of security infringement.
To perform this task effectively, greater attention must be paid to human security and to bringing into play the strength of the people as a key pillar of national security, thereby enhancing the country’s capacity to respond to traditional and non-traditional security challenges.
It is also necessary to strengthen political and ideological education, and take a proactive, resolute and persistent approach to countering erroneous and hostile viewpoints as well as harmful and malicious information in cyberspace. This should go hand in hand with building capacity of personnel engaged in internal political protection, information security, information technology and cyber security, Truong said.