Nguyễn Cơ Thạch was a Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

ese revolutionary

Revolutionary

A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...

, diplomat

Diplomat

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, and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He was Foreign Minister of Vietnam from February 1980 to July 1991.

Thạch was seen as pragmatic and influential (given his representation in the Politburo).

His time in office coincided with part of Vietnam’s transition from an ideology-based alignment to the Soviet bloc towards a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, including the primacy of economic over ideological considerations, integration into ASEAN and closer relations with non-socialist countries.
However, Mr Thạch’s efforts to normalize relations with the United States

United States

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 were not successful.

Thạch's son Phạm Bình Minh is the current Foreign Minister of Vietnam.