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U.S. East Asian Strategy After The Cold War: Bottom-lines, Challenges And Policies, 1989-2009

Posted on:2012-05-11Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:J C LiFull Text:PDF
GTID:1116330332997367Subject:International politics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Since the end of the Cold War, given the continuity and change of the geo-strategic environment in East Asia, the United States establishes its triple strategic interests in East Asia. The United States believes that its strategic interests in East Asia faces two major strategic challenges. The United States must use its three strategic pillars in hands to strategically response to the above strategic challenges. Thus, U.S. East Asian strategy after the Cold War proceeds as a clue of"the bottom lines- challenges-policies".The geo-strategic environment in East Asia after the Cold War shows the features of continuity and change. This provides the stage for the formulation and operation of U.S. East Asian strategy post-Cold War. Because of geographical location in East Asia and its strategic importance, East Asia - Pacific rising, East Asia's strategic importance in the United States view started the transition from"Europe superior to East Asia"to"Europe parallel to Asia", thus showing the continuity of East Asian geopolitical pattern after the Cold War and the variability of its situation. In continuity, East Asia is still separate and in cold peace, history does not end here; in variability, the United States becomes"the strongest"global superpower in the world, the China-America-Soviet"great strategic triangle"no longer exists, many potential hot spots of the regional conflicts began to highlight.Faced with this current situation, the United States establishes its triple strategic interests in East Asia: vital interests, important interests and secondary interests. The U.S. vital interests in East Asia after the Cold War are three: to ensure the security of the United States, East Asian allies and the sea lanes in East Asia; to prevent the rise of East Asian potential strategic rivals as well as of the spread and use of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery in East Asia, which is the untouchable bottom-lines of the United States East Asian strategy after the Cold War; there are three important interests: maintaining"Pax Americana"in East Asia, expanding economic and trade interests of the United States in East Asia, and the promoting"American- style"freedom and democracy; secondary interests are also three: to combat transnational crime, cut off the drug trade and curb illegal immigration.According to the above strategic interests, the United States believes that in a series of potential threats and challenges triggered by the emerging power and the destabilizing forces in East Asia, the most serious strategic challenges are from two aspects: the rise of China and the North Korean issue. These two challenges have been hidden behind the Iron Curtain of the Cold War for many years. Once the Cold War ended, they have surfaced, increasingly challenging the U.S. vital interests in East Asia. It is obvious that the rise of China concerns the interest of preventing the rise of the potential strategic adversary in East Asia and the North Korean problem concerns the interest of preventing the spread and use of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery in East Asia. Therefore, the United States believes that the United States must actively strategically response to these two major strategic challenges. If these two challenges to be downplayed or even ignored, it will put itself in danger. U.S. strategic responses to these two challenges become the top priority of its East Asian strategy. With regard to the challenge of the rise of China, the United States sets up the strategic perception toward China-"China is a challenge", the U.S. strategic responses to China walk between the strategic containment and the strategic engagement, but the implementation of preventive defense, peace evolution and island chain blockade, still runs through the post-Cold War U.S. strategy toward China. With regard to the challenge of the North Korea issue, the United States sets up the strategic perception toward the DPRK-"North Korea is a threat", the United States strategic responses to the DPRK walk between the strategic deterrence and the strategic dialogue, but the dual policy to prompt North Korea to change regime, divide and rule to maintain the division of the peninsula, the primacy to avoid other powers to lead the Korean Peninsula affairs, still runs through the post-Cold War U.S. strategy toward the DPRK.In the process of these strategic responses to two major strategic challenges, the United States has three available strategic pillars in hands to use. The super-national power forms America's unmatched power base in the world: the hard power steadily growing, the soft power increasingly highlighting, the presence in East Asia intensified. The bilateral alliance constitutes invaluable legacy of the Cold War: the US-Japan alliance increasingly consolidating, the US-ROK alliance continually strengthening, and other allies gradually expanding. The multilateral institutions constructs multi-dimensional web of regional security: to promote the bilateral alliance into multilateral, to build regional multilateral security mechanism, to participate in"two-track forums". The United States hopes to increase participation in the Asia-Pacific affairs, adequately takes advantage of the existing security structure from the Cold War legacy, and tries its best to influence the development of its regional situation, trying to create a US-dominated new regional order.As seen above, seeking hegemony through the balance of power becomes the substance of the East Asian strategy of United States after the Cold War. U.S. strategically positions itself as the"offshore balancer", trying to balance regional hegemony challenger and control the regional allied great power to achieve the strategic goal of sticking up for hegemony in East Asia. U.S. strategy in East Asia of the new balance of power is formed by binding the hegemonic power's"dividing and ruling"and the ally's"going along with the strong".So, what exactly are the geo-political roots of the U.S. East Asian strategy after the Cold War? The answer is to build an impregnable"America fortress", from"fear of being surrounded by"to"anti-siege", and the contemporary interpretation of"sea power against the land power"tradition. Looking forward the future direction of U.S. East Asian strategy after the Cold War, we can detect, the United States will still focus on Northeast Asia, deepen involvement in Southeast Asia, China strategy tend to concealment, and that the United States will not change the strategic policy of maintaining East Asian hegemony, the use of strategic means will be more diversified and three-pronged track strategy operates: soft containment, flexible contact, implicit integration. Based on this, China's strategic choice is:"Seizing the initiative","achieving victory without a fight", and"gaining the power through taking advantage of the advantages".
Keywords/Search Tags:USA, East Asia, Strategy, Bottom-line, Challenge, Balance of Power, Hegemony
PDF Full Text Request
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