ASEAN's Hedging Strategy Towards China And US (1997～2008)

ASEAN has been struggling for survival in the siege of great powers ever since its establishment.Facing China and America,the two great powers,ASEAN adopts Hedging Strategy so that it can hedge against risks.This article argues that the Hedging Strategy towards China and America has brought ASEAN into dilemma. Actually,Hedging Strategy does not offer ASEAN the expected vital position,but makes it more difficult for the two great powers to treat ASEAN seriously in the economic and security affairs of Southeast Asia.Each of them persists in its bilateral way to deal with the regional issues,which has negative impact on the integration of ASEAN.The essential cause of the dilemma lies in the structural problem of" less powerful organization",which renders its members to have no choice but choose their reliers with regard to benefit,making it hard for ASEAN to form composite forces to bring Hedging Strategy into effect.The lack of strength also makes it hard to occupy too much proportion on the chessboard of China and the United States,bringing about restrictions to the operating space of Hedging Strategy.Chapter One explains the purpose and significance of the study,summarizes related literatures,and presents the research methods and framework of the study.Chapter Two reviews and analyses the background of Hedging Strategy theories; then,it discusses and concludes the characteristics of Hedging Strategy.Chapter Three comprehensively discusses ASEAN's Hedging Strategy,with a time range covering from 1997 to 2008.It focuses on economic,political cooperation and security issues.Chapter Four contains the core innovation of research.It analyses the dilemma of ASEAN's Hedging Strategy.Chapter Five analyses the causes of the Hedging Strategy dilemma.Chapter Six concludes major findings and presents a brief expectation upon ASEAN's future strategy.