The US Rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific: Really Realist?

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
The Third ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
The Us ◽  
Alliance Building ◽  
Realist Model

The Obama administration perceives the Asia-Pacific as a vital and dynamic region and thus prioritized it in its foreign policy agenda. Some scholars have suggested that the Obama administration’s rebalance towards Asia has taken a realist approach to engagement with the Asia-Pacific while others suggested that it deviated significantly from realism. This article seeks to examine more closely the question of the realist nature of the US rebalance policy towards the Asia-Pacific. It begins with a discussion of views of the Obama administration’s rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific before giving an overview of realism. Then, it seeks to establish a realist model of foreign policy and examine the Obama administration’s rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific against that model. It finds that the Obama administration has high scores on two of the indicators of realism—the emphasis on military capabilities and the emphasis on alliance-building—but has lower scores on the third and the fourth—a low regard for multilateral institutions, and a low regard for values. The Obama administration has actively engaged with regional institutions and has strongly supported the spread of democracy and human dignity all over the Asia-Pacific. Hence, the Obama administration’s rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific is a realist foreign policy with certain modifications.

scholarly journals Sanctions as tools in the US foreign policy after the cold war

2006 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-491
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Joksimovic
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Military Interventions ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact

In searching for various opportunities to act in pursuing its foreign policy and endeavors to achieve a dominant role in the global processes USA has developed a broad range of instruments including a financial assistance as a way to be given support for its positions, intelligence activities, its public diplomacy, unilateral implementation of sanctions and even military interventions. The paper devotes special attention to one of these instruments - sanctions, which USA implemented in the last decade of the 20th century more than ever before. The author explores the forms and mechanisms for implementation of sanctions, the impact and effects they produce on the countries they are directed against, but also on the third parties or the countries that have been involved in the process by concurrence of events and finally on USA as the very initiator of imposing them.

American Mistakes

2020 ◽  
pp. 34-58
Author(s):  
Feng Zhang ◽  
Richard Ned Lebow
Keyword(s):  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Regional Strategy ◽  
Management Issue ◽  
Asia Pacific Region ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
The Us ◽  
Made In

This chapter examines the policy mistakes that the Obama administration made in managing the Sino-American relationship. The Obama administration developed no distinct China strategy and was in fact averse to developing such a strategy. It chose to embed largely reactive China policies within a regional strategy of the so-called “pivot” or “rebalance” to the Asia-Pacific region. While China was relegated to a management issue, the rebalance strategy damaged the US-China relationship by deepening strategic mistrust between the two countries and agitating China to seek strategic adventures in Asia. The rebalance did not cause Chinese assertiveness by itself, but the geopolitical setting it created served to exacerbate China’s already fermenting assertive inclinations and prompted its strategic adventurism.

Change and Continuity: 1989–1997

2019 ◽  
pp. 57-82
Author(s):  
Andrew Yeo
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Asian Financial Crisis ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Asean Regional Forum ◽  
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter demonstrates elements of change and continuity in Asia’s regional architecture between the waning years of the Cold War and the Asian financial crisis. Despite the external shock of the Cold War, I argue that the path to change is best captured by endogenous processes of change where mechanisms of change and continuity intersect. The first part of the chapter chronicles the development of two multilateral institutions: the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the ASEAN Regional Forum. The second part demonstrates the continuity of bilateral alliances, focusing on the US-Japan and US-Philippines alliance.

Biden’s US foreign policy agenda is emerging

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Economic Reform ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
China Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Defence Spending

Significance Biden and Republican President Donald Trump, seeking re-election, are already sparring over US-China policy; this and other differences over foreign policy will mark the candidates’ campaigning. Impacts Biden would reduce US tariffs on China, favouring more targeted tariffs, but still push for Chinese economic reform. He would increase US attention to the Asia-Pacific, and work with China on North Korean denuclearisation. The next president will likely have to trim US defence spending and commitments overseas. Biden will refer to the Obama administration’s record as evidence of his fitness to govern.

The Segmented Third Rail: The Politics of Social Security from Carter to Obama

The Forum ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Béland
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Institutional Stability ◽  
The Third ◽  
Policy Alternatives ◽  
The Us ◽  
Discontinuous Nature ◽  
Structural Path ◽  
Social Security Privatization ◽  
Over Time

AbstractSocial Security is widely known as “The Third Rail of American Politics” and the program has proved been remarkably stable and politically resilient, over time. While true, this basic story about the institutional stability of Social Security in the US should not hide the segmented, discontinuous nature of its politics over the last four decades. As suggested in this article, the changing nature of Social Security politics is reflected in the variety of the policy options debated, which range from incremental benefit cuts and revenue increases adopted during the Carter and the Reagan years to structural, path-shifting proposals associated with the idea of Social Security privatization, which only became a mainstream policy alternative during the Clinton years. The following analysis explores the debate about these diverse policy alternatives, if and when they entered the federal policy agenda during the periods under consideration.

The foreign policy of the United States following the Arab Spring

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Tovar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Political Change ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
The Us ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
The Arab Spring

This chapter analyses president Obama’s foreign policy in the MENA region. The first section focuses on the discourse and key strategic documents of the Obama administration. The purpose is to identify the place that the MENA region has in the order of priorities of his foreign policy. The second section analyses the US foreign policy towards some of the states affected by the Arab Spring; while the third analyses the participation of the US in various conflicts that have marked this change process. The fourth explores the question of the nuclear agreement with Iran and its effects on Israel, which is one of the main allies of the US in the region. The final chapter pulls together the conclusions. In some cases the US used diplomatic tools to promote political change; this is the case of Tunisia, Egypt or Yemen. In other cases the American decision-makers defended a status quo policy, such as Bahrain. In the cases of Libya, Syria and Iraq, the US was involved in different military interventions to promote political change or to fight terrorist groups like the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), as a consequence of the Arab Spring. The chapter concludes that the Obama Administration did not have a coherent strategy to the region, offering different reactions to different states with different contexts and interests. Nevertheless, the ascent of the IS and the Russian influence on the region, make that the MENA region retains its strategic and vital role for the American foreign policy.

Weltmacht und Demokratie

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Transatlantic Relations ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Role ◽  
Liberal Perspective

This volume addresses the international challenges that the US faces in the post-Trump era. Will President Joe Biden succeed in restoring the traditional leadership role of the US? What are the international and domestic hurdles for Biden in advancing his foreign policy agenda? Drawing on a liberal perspective in international relations, the chapters highlight how domestic and international politics are intertwined. Societal interests, partisan polarisation, and executive–legislative relations shape the hegemon’s international role in various policy areas, such as arms control and climate and trade policy, but also regarding the country’s relationships towards friends and foes. The book brings together the expertise of scholars who specialise in the US and transatlantic relations, in celebration of Jürgen Wilzewski. With contributions by Hakan Akbulut, Johannes Artz, Florian Böller, Gordon Friedrichs, Gerlinde Groitl, Steffen Hagemann, Lukas Herr, Katja Leikert, Marcus Höreth, Gerhard Mangott, Marcus Müller, Ronja Ritthaler-Andree, Peter Rudolf, Oliver Thränert, Söhnke Schreyer, David Sirakov, Georg Wenzelburger and Reinhard Wolf.

China's Foreign Policy: Responding to the US Pivot to Asia and Managing Differences with its Neighbours

2013 ◽  
Vol 05 (01) ◽  
pp. 14-31
Author(s):  
Yongnian ZHENG ◽  
Liang Fook LYE ◽  
Gang CHEN
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Chinese Leadership ◽  
Pivot To Asia ◽  
The Us ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
Territorial Claims ◽  
The Military

China devoted much effort to manage its relations with Asia-Pacific countries in 2012 due to the US pivot to the region. China views the military-centric focus of the US pivot as directed at China and as emboldening regional countries to be more assertive in their territorial claims vis-à-vis China. In 2013, the Chinese leadership will likely strike a balance between seeking a stable external environment and standing firm on issues concerning China's national interests.

Indonesia and the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewi Fortuna Anwar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Law ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
Middle Power ◽  
East Asia Summit ◽  
The Us ◽  
Block Approach

Abstract Indonesia has taken a leadership role within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in drafting a common outlook on the Indo-Pacific concept. The widening of Indonesia's geostrategic canvas from the Asia–Pacific to the Indo-Pacific is in line with President Joko Widodo's intent to make Indonesia a Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF). In view of the rivalry between the US and China and the emergence of various Indo-Pacific initiatives from other countries, Indonesia believes that ASEAN must try to maintain its centrality. The draft of Indonesia's perspective for an ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific: towards a peaceful, prosperous, and inclusive region was submitted for considerations by ASEAN, and after 18 months of intensive lobbying by Indonesia the concept was finally adopted at the ASEAN Summit in June 2019. The ASEAN outlook promotes the principles of openness, inclusiveness, transparency, respect for international law and ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific region. It proposes a building-block approach, seeking commonalities between existing regional initiatives in which ASEAN-led mechanisms will act as a fulcrum for both norm-setting and concrete cooperation. Rather than creating a new regional architecture, the East Asia Summit (EAS) is proposed as the platform for advancing the Indo-Pacific discourse and cooperation. Indonesia's ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific marks its renewed foreign policy activism as a middle power and underlines the continuing importance that Indonesia places on ASEAN as the cornerstone of its foreign policy, emphasising ASEAN's centrality as the primary vehicle for managing relations with the major powers in the Indo-Pacific region.

scholarly journals Pasal 9 Konstitusi Jepang: Perubahan Sikap AS Terhadap Militer Jepang

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-206
Author(s):  
Helsi Eka Putri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
Policy Theory ◽  
Article 9 ◽  
Japanese Military ◽  
The Us ◽  
Second Period

This article explains the US foreign policy on the Obama administration towards the reinterpretation of article 9 of the Japanese constitution. Historically, article 9 was the result of US interference to keep Japan from proactive military activities and oblige Japan to sacrifice all its territory since 1895, and to incorporate Japan into the US security system. This evoke a question, why in the era of Obama administration US supported article 9 reinterpretation efforts that will make the Japanese military proactive? The purpose of this article is to analyze the direction of US President Barack Obama's foreign policy in the second period. Foreign policy theory with national interest concept approach is used to analyze three factors influencing US foreign policy to support the reinterpretation of article 9. This article uses literature study by collecting data that related to the factors of US in doing such foreign policy towards Japan. Ultimately, this article argued that external, internal, and perceptions of US decision-makers influence US foreign policy in favor of reinterpretation of article 9.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document