Date of Award
2000
Document Type
Honors Thesis (Open Access)
Department
Colby College. Government Dept.
Advisor(s)
James Marquardt
Second Advisor
Guilain Denoeux
Third Advisor
Suisheng Zhao
Abstract
The different analyses and predictions of alliance behavior and capacity development advocated in the literature are based on the application of different theoretical perspectives to international relationships. As none of these theories dominate the field, the contradictory predictions do not empower current policy-makers with any clear sense of the future of alliance formation in East Asia. In this thesis I present the major theoretical frameworks that explain alliance formation behavior. Then I examine the empirical evidence independent of any theoretical considerations. I then apply the empirical evidence regarding capacity development in East Asia during 1990-1998 to these theories to determine their explanatory power, evaluating each to determine its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of these theories are then examined for established patterns of alliance formation behavior that emerge and used to derive a more complete theoretical model of alliance formation behavior that specifically explains the case of post-Cold War East. Using this complete model, I extrapolate internal and external capacity development to develop predictions of the behavior competing nations will adopt in East Asia by 2010.
Keywords
International relations -- Research, Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- China, China -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union, Asia -- Strategic aspects, World politics -- 1989-, International relations, Pacific Area -- Military policy, Security, International, East Asia -- Military relations, East Asia -- Foreign relations
Recommended Citation
Humphreys, Ben, "New balance of threat: East Asian alliance formation and capacity development" (2000). Honors Theses. Paper 124.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/124
Copyright
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