In a globalizing world, local and global governance arrangements are increasingly interdependent, which produces harmonization in some instances and new tensions and contradictions in others. Analysis shows that successive waves of globalization have affected the governance of education in Viet Nam differently. It shows that the globalization of Viet Nam's social and political economy has not diminished the centrality of Viet Nam's state in the governance of education, but that the character of the state's governance roles has changed significantly. Even in the context of the current global turbulence, it seems clear that Viet Nam's economy will continue to grow. But it is equally clear that what transpires in the field of the governance of education will profoundly influence the sustainability of that growth, its distribution, and its qualitative impacts on social life in Viet Nam. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 4 notes.)