Nixon Administration Foreign Policy Towards Philippines

In the 60s and 70s of last century, the Cold War structure had a new change, international situation presented a trend of multi-polarzation. To save increasingly declining international status of United States and to contain communism's attack under the new circumstances of the Cold War, Nixon administration adjusted U.S. policy and put forward the famous"Nixon Doctrine"which advocated that the Asian allies shoulder their own defense force and the U.S. only provide necessary military assistance under the obligation of treaties. Under the guidance of this policy, the U.S. also correspondingly changed its policy toward the Philippines which was one of its Southeast Asian allies. Nixon administration's policy toward the Philippines was aimed to maintain a friendly and stable pro-US regime and on the basis of that to cut down U.S. forces in the philippines and to improve the self-independence of Philippines by assisstance means. Nixon administration gradually opened up the negotiations of military base and economic agreements with the Philippines again and withdrew its personnel in the Philippines in 1969. For the domestic political disputes in the Philippines, Nixon administration upheld the principles of"non-interference"and"noninvolvement"and actively advocated the Philippines solve its problems independently and even acquiesced in Marcos monocracy which greatly affected the world reputation of the United States and democratic process of the Philippines. Therefore, despite the Nixon administration has been supporting the Philippines to conduct social reform, its effect was slight under the framework of the monocracy. Subsequent administration of Ford and Carter has never stepped out of the contradictory plight which was created by the Nixon administration, until the Reagan administration, when Marcos regime was difficult to control the domestic situation, the United States changed its policy in the Philippines.This dissertation will use the methods of history and international politics's comprehensive research and insists on Historical Materialism and Dialectical Materialism and adopts international political theories, such as National Interests, Geopolitics, Hegemonism and so on. Moreover, it depends on the diplomatic documents of the U.S. government to study the U.S. policy toward the Philippines, in order to reveal how the United States coordinates and deals with the relations with its allies under the background of the adjustment of the international strategy and attempt to summarize the characteristics and essence of the U.S. policy toward its Southeast Asian ally: the Philippines.This dissertation includes three sections as follows:The first part: review U.S. policy toward the Philippines before Nixon administration. It includes:the relations between the United States and the Philippines during the colonial era; the U.S. policy toward the Philippines in the beginning of the Cold War; the U.S. policy toward the Philippines during Kennedy and Johnson administration.The second part: analyse explicitly U.S. concrete policy toward the Philippines. It includes:the change of the Cold War situation and the debut of the"Nixon Doctrine"; the process which the United States modified its policy toward the Philippines; the execution of the U.S. policy toward the Philippines.The third part: comment the essential characteristics and influence of the U.S. policy toward the Philippines. It includes:the essence of the U.S. policy toward the Philippines; the influence of the U.S. policy toward the Philippines.