Cooperation In Weapons Production And Checks And Balances On Hegemonic Powe

Arms production cooperation refers to cooperation projects between countries in the form of licensed production,co-production,and co-development.Due to the different Defense Industry Bases(DIB)of each country,weapons production cooperation led by major countries is usually accompanied by a certain amount of military technology transfer,which is an important reason to attract other countries to participate in the cooperation.Technology diffusion usually weakens the dominant country’s advantageous position.The research questions in this dissertation are how the United States achieves hegemonic power balancing in arms production cooperation;and how China should understand and respond to arms production cooperation and technology transfer behavior within the U.S.alliance system in the era of great power competition.This dissertation sorting through the relevant literature,including the issue of arms production and hegemony,which is of interest to IR scholars,and the study of globalization of defense industry production,which is related to the study of Defense Economics.In response to the research questions in this dissertation,existing research is undoubtedly scattered and lacks a clear explanation of production cooperation and power balancing mechanisms.Using interdisciplinary cross-sectional research,this dissertation proposes an analytical framework that considers arms production cooperation as an important tool for hard power balancing.This dissertation is a useful attempt to expand the concept of DIB applied to the study of IR,and provides a new analytical perspective for the study of U.S.hegemony and the Sino-U.S.relations.Chapter 1 presents a general analytical framework drawing on the realist paradigm of power balancing theory and relevant concepts from Defense Economics.The purpose of power balancing is to prevent competing powers from becoming hegemonic,realist scholars believe that internal and external power balancing best influence the distribution of power.Internal balancing,i.e.,strengthening armaments,and external balancing,i.e.,consolidating alliances,together constitute the hard power balancing.DIB,including arms production cooperation,is both a major source of national military power and can be an important means of consolidating alliance relations.By arguing the complex relationship between production cooperation and technology diffusion,this paper argues that along with production cooperation will generate a certain amount of technology diffusion,but the hegemonic power usually retains core technology and system integration capabilities,and the technology recipient country is also limited by its own DIB,so the technology diffusion enabled by production cooperation will be limited.Therefore,the hegemonic power-led arms production cooperation projects can meet the requirements of power balancing: the arms production cooperation will create economies of scale and facilitate the growth of the hegemonic power’s military power,i.e.,achieve internal balancing;the arms production cooperation will also improve the standardization and interoperability of equipment and logistics among partners,enhance the synergy of operations,and increase the reliance on the hegemonic power’s military equipment system,i.e.external balancing.Chapters 2 and 4 sort out U.S.arms production and power balancing in different periods.During the Cold War,the United States gradually developed military technological superiority and established a DIB consistent with hegemonic status.The U.S.consolidated alliances through arms sales and licensed production,while at the same time gaining economies of scale,thus achieving hegemonic maintenance in the Cold War context by means of hard balancing.In the post-Cold War era,the U.S.has changed the way it power balancing,and soft balancing,such as international regimes and economic sanctions,are playing an increasingly important role,but hard balancing are still an important means for the U.S.to achieve hegemony.In DIB,changes in the geopolitical environment and technological development have prompted the United States to raise the level of cooperation in DIB.The U.S.DIB has become more prominent as an "axis of support" among allied countries,not only providing a large amount of equipment for its own country,but also maintaining alliances and partnerships through arms production cooperation.Chapters 3 and 5 provide case studies that demonstrate how the U.S.has achieved hegemonic power balancing in transnational arms production cooperation.The participation of European countries in the F-16 production cooperation program and the multinational participation in the F-35 program are different types of cooperation,i.e.,licensed production and co-development and co-production.This paper argues that the U.S.gained greater economies of scale in both fighter production cooperation programs,and the U.S.military formed an armament advantage against competitors through highvolume procurement at lower costs,thus gaining stronger internal balancing;partners,on the other hand,gained some technology transfer in production cooperation,participated more deeply in U.S.DIB,and formed a hard-to-substitute for the U.S.-made equipment system.In addition,the benefits of standardization and interoperability that come from procuring the same equipment also help the U.S.gain considerable external balancing.In an era of great power competition,U.S.power balancing with China is an urgent topic of study.Based on the above analytical framework,Chapter 6 reorganizes the U.S.political and military strategy toward China and its power balancing.It is found that U.S.strategy toward China can be roughly divided into four historical stages:containment,quasi-alliance,engagement,and great power competition,with different preferences for adopting balancing with China in different stages.In the current stage of great power competition,the United States increasingly tends to choose hard balancing tools to build an Indo-Pacific military alliance system against China through arms production cooperation and other means to engage in strategic competition and even strategic confrontation with China.This dissertation concludes that China should recognize that U.S.weapons production cooperation with its allies and partners not only enhances their respective military power,but also consolidates the U.S.-led military alliance relationship in the process of limited technology diffusion.This dissertation suggests that the development of disruptive emerging technologies and the expansion of strategic partnerships in the form of weapons production cooperation could be two possible directions for China to address U.S.hard balancing.Notably,China should avoid countering U.S.hegemonic power balancing with an intense arms race.Due to the limitations of this paper’s research perspective and content,future research can continue to focus on the role of other balancing tools in the process of hegemonic maintenance,as well as specific analysis of how Southeast Asian countries and others adjust their foreign strategies under the pressure of U.S.hard balancing on China.