The Influences Of American Think Tanks On The US Government's South China Sea Policy

The study of the South China Sea issue by US think tanks has affected the way and extent of the US government's involvement in the South China Sea issue to a certain extent.According to the 2015 global think tank rankings published by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania,the Brookings Institution,the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,the Council on Foreign Relations,the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for New American Security are among top US think tanks of foreign policy and international affairs.The five think tanks selected in this thesis represent the main types of American think tanks.Due to their long-term academic accumulation and extensive social and media influence,their research findings and opinions on the South China Sea issue also provide a model for examining the relationship between American think tanks and its government's South China Sea policy.This thesis mainly studies the influences of American think tanks on the US South China Sea policy.According to the studies of the five think tanks on the South China Sea issue between 2008 to 2017,this thesis summarizes the views of the main scholars on the status quo of the South China Sea issue and their policy recommendations to the US government.This thesis demonstrates the relationship between American think tanks and US government by revealing the various means US think tanks influence the government's policy.Further more,this thesis takes the South China Sea policies adopted by Obama and Trump administrations as examples to demonstrate the influences of American think tanks on the US government's policies.Through the above analysis,it is concluded that the US think tanks have a certain influence on the US government's South China Sea policy.