| Due to the conflict of national interests, along with the distinctions of social institutions and ideologies between U.S.-Soviet, a quick transition which turned two powers from wartime allies to enemies occurred just after the Second World War, following by the immediate outbreak of the Cold War. U.S.-Philippines alliance was one of the Global anti-communist Alliances which were got down to be built by the United States, with the purpose of containing the development of Communist Group led by the Soviet and China. Serving as a vital part of alliance system in the Asia-Pacific region, U.S.-Philippines alliance had played an important role in containing the expansion of Communist. The period from1946to1975was critical when the alliance was built and developed, this dissertation emphasizes on the perspective of the Philippines’foreign policies especially concerning policies toward America to investigate the developmental track of U.S.-Philippines alliance with the access point including the high-impact events in American-Philippines relationship, on that basis, combining with the analysis of interaction within bilateral policies’formulation and adjustment, to discover the characteristics and essence of U.S.-Philippines alliance in the Cold War.The whole thesis consists of three parts:Introduction,Text and Conclusion. The introduction points out the origin and significance of topic, summarizes the current research situations of U.S.-Philippines alliance contributed by domestic as well as international scholars, and then illustrates the research tracks and writing methods along with the difficulties and innovations. The text are divided into five chapters.Chapter one mainly elaborates the historical background of the formation of U.S.-Philippines alliance. Owing to conflicts caused by pursuits of the target for the world hegemony and national interests, relationship between U.S.-Soviet converted to opponents from alliances shortly after the World War II, bringing out the Cold War. To contain the expansion of Soviet-dominated communist in the Asia-Pacific region, America was brewing the construction of a defensive chain consisted of offshore islands in which the Philippines had been involved for its significant strategic position and historical ties with the United States. Although the Philippines had established a dependent policy with the U.S., it couldn’t fully be in accordance with American requests as their disagreements existed in military bases and Japanese war reparation affairs. Despite the disagreements, the Philippines felt deep inside that they can not achieve themselves survival and security by self-reliance as a newborn country, when confronted the threat from the communist under atmosphere of Cold War and the possibility that militarized Japan would revive as a result of American’policy change on Japan, and the domestic threat named Huk movement led by Philippine communist. Consequently, Philippines concentrated on the U.S. with the active efforts to conclude the Pacific Pact with it.Chapter two provides a particular analysis on the reasons and the process of U.S.-Philippines alliance formation after the outbreak of the Korean War. The Korean War was an important turning point in the formation process of U.S.-Philippines alliance, which aggravated the tension of antagonism in the Asian-Pacific region, also urged the U.S. to determine to accelerate the steps of making peace with Japan. Nevertheless, there existed a major disagreement between them in the peace scheme towards Japan provided by America, which dissatisfied with the Philippines’ will. As to the United States, it neeed support from the Philippines whether in the Korean War or o on the treaty of peace with Japan, which forced it to initiatively coordinate the disagreements on the peace plan’s aspects of war reparation and security with the Philippines.Based on the security situation of Asia-Pacific region became increasingly severe after the Korean War and their mutual demands, the two sides eventually set up the labor compensation pattern as the solution to compensation issues, and the promise from the United States to provide security for the Philippines succeeded in solving security issues. The signature of U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty officially announced the establishment of U.S.-Philippines alliance on August30,1951.Chapter three mainly expounds the Philippines’active supports for American foreign policy towards Indochina in order to reinsure national security, and then its the reasons as well as processes of hosting and participating in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. Although the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty had asked for America to fulfill obligations for aiding Philippines at the time when it suffered external threats, yet the Philippines discontented in the vagueness and uncertainty of the obligations whilst the treaty didn’t specify commitments of America on condition of the Philippines facing threats from internal subversive force (the biggest threat to national security was the domestic Huk movement led by Philippines communist then). In order to seek American’specified commitments to national security especially the domestic security, the Philippines provided active supports for American foreign policy towards Indochina with hosting the conference on the establishment of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization in which it joined initiatively. Although the signature of Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty failed to help Philippines accomplishing the purpose of requesting more specific commitment to defense assist from America, it still made the United States to assume some obligations to the Philippines’internal security to some extent, which continued to improve the bilateral relations after the alliance formation.Chapter four discusses inharmonious factors within the relations between the two countries and its influences on the alliance. Despite keeping in close contact with U.S. during this period, disagreements and disputes between them emerged from economy and trade, military bases and war reparation, which impelled the Philippines to review and change their attitudes to the relations of the two countries, then the alliance began to rift.Chapter five mainly deals with the process of the centrifugal and weakened tendency in U.S.-Philippines alliance during the period from Marcos’rise to power to establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines. In order to obtain American aid to help the troubled economy, although the Philippines followed the United States to invlove in the Vietnam War, the process was not smooth. Appearance of Nixon doctrine deepened the suspicions with commitments to provide security from the United States for Philippines and also aroused the domestic nationalists’ criticism for the government as a follower of U. S. in terms of diplomacy. Therefore, in order to express their dissatisfaction and calm down the domestic nationalistic sentiment, Marcos withdrew the troops from the Vietnam battlefield, and then he changed foreign policy from insistent attaching to American policy to an independent "development diplomacy". In1973, the United States got away from Vietnam, which reinforced the Philippines’ doubts of American defense commitment and fears about its national security. To ensure the national security, on the one hand, Marcos government negotiated with the United States, on the other hand he took steps to improve relations with the former enemies-communist countries, especially with China. The signature of the joint communique between the Philippines and China in1975marked the formal diplomatic relations to be established in two countries, which mean the collapse of basis of the U.S.-Philippines alliance, the alliance began to weaken.The conclusion sums up main points of the text, generalizes the characteristics and discovers the essence of U.S.-Philippines alliance, and proposes the ideas about current disputes in the South China Sea on the basis of them. |
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