CountriesAsiaLaos

Laos

Lao People's Democratic Republic

Asia

UN Member since 1955

Member of ASEAN, NAM.

Population

7.5M

GDP

$14.7B

Capital

Vientiane

Government

Unitary one-party socialist ...

Power & politics

Leadership, governance, and democratic trajectory.

Democracy index

1.8 / 10

UN voting record

How Laos votes at the UN General Assembly — ideological trajectory, voting partners, topic patterns, and key recent roll calls.

Ideological trajectory

Voting summary

No votes recorded for this period yet.

Bloc alignment

Bloc alignment data not available yet.

Top voting partners

Topic-level voting

Source: Erik Voeten, “United Nations General Assembly Voting Data”, Harvard Dataverse (CC0). Aggregated by Model Diplomat. Last refresh tracked in profile freshness.

Foreign policy

Bilateral posture, key relationships, and live diplomatic statements.

Foreign Policy

Laos maintains close ideological and economic ties with Vietnam and China, its two most influential neighbors. Its foreign policy is shaped by dependence on Chinese investment and Vietnamese political mentorship. Laos participates in ASEAN but generally follows China's lead on sensitive issues.

Laos cooperates with Thailand on economic matters and participates in the Mekong River Commission, though its dam-building program has strained relations with downstream states.

Allies

Vietnam

China

Cambodia

MUN Delegate Guide

As Laos, you are a small state navigating between powerful neighbors. Align with Vietnam on ideological matters and with China on economic and infrastructure issues. In ASEAN, support consensus and avoid taking controversial positions.

Emphasize development needs and least-developed country (LDC) status to attract aid and technical assistance. Raise the legacy of unexploded ordnance as a humanitarian issue that resonates internationally.

Avoid confrontation with any major power. Your survival strategy is to maintain good relations with everyone while quietly extracting maximum development assistance.