Between 1842 and 1857, British interactions with the Qing Empire shaped and informed the development of British liberal attitudes. However, amid the widespread historiography devoted to uncovering international influences on British liberalism during this period, the impact of the Anglo-Chinese relationship remains a footnote. Instead, focus is given to how Europe, America and the British Empire assisted in the advancement of British politics and liberal thought. This thesis redresses this oversight – showing how Anglo-Chinese frictions in the mid-nineteenth century brought into question British notions of free trade, international law, diplomatic standards and non-intervention. Britain’s determination to improve its trading network in China matched by the Qing’s refusal to allow further Western expansion, informed British liberal debate and shaped political attitudes. Most notably, it resulted in Sir John Bowring, the former Foreign Secretary of the London Peace Society, ordering the military bombardment of the port of Canton in late 1856. The bombardment – which resulted in the second Anglo-Chinese conflict (1856-1860) – is well-documented by historians. However, the development of Bowring’s political convictions, which provided an ideological justification for war, has been overlooked. This thesis uncovers how interactions with China forced Bowring and the British expatriate community more generally to reconsider the meaning of free trade, the boundaries of international law and their commitment to non-intervention. In addition, it shows how Bowring’s actions resulted in a heated debate that captured the attention of Britain’s political elite and, through the General Election of 1857, the British public more generally. As a result, it facilitated an open and vibrant debate that queried whether, to secure British trade, military intervention could be deemed an acceptable diplomatic method – a discussion that forced the development of the nation’s liberal attitudes. This thesis tackles two relatively distinct areas of historical research that rarely interact. First, it sheds new light on the scholarship that has examined foreign influences on the development of British liberal ideas in the mid-nineteenth century. It shows that through an investigation of relations with peripheral nations such as China, historians can gain a fresh and more detailed perspective on how and why nineteenth century liberal attitudes developed. In addition, it challenges the existing framework adopted by Sinologists in their assessment of Anglo-Chinese relations. Recent studies remain focused on uncovering how nineteenth century Western expansion into the Qing Empire affected its political, legal and cultural development. This thesis reverses this approach – arguing that this relationship not only affected events within China but in addition, shaped British liberal debate and consolidated British political ideas. This thesis calls, therefore, for historians to reconsider the importance of relatively peripheral nations on the development of British ideals and liberal thinking in the mid-nineteenth century. By examining these new frontiers, it sheds new light on the making of British liberalism.

This thesis compares Thailand',s relations with the United States and China from 196541975, The realist as-sumes that the structure of power in the internationall system determines overall relations between states' First, this study describes the power situation in southeast Asia in 1965, The next steps are concerned with the study of Thai-U, S. relations and Thai-Chinese relations, The thesis finds that Thailand's relations with the United States and China are determined by the structure of power. When a major power like the United States changes its policies to accommodate China, Thailand, which is a small country, turns to be more friendly with China, These attitudes correlate with the realist assumption,.

The Sino-Soviet Split of the late 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s was a multidimensional crisis of nationalism, national interests, domestic politics, personal problems, cultural differences, border issues, Soviet-American détente, communication misunderstanding, and different interpretations of ideology. The goal of this diploma thesis is to analyse the important domestic and foreign factors which contributed to the worsening of Sino-Soviet relations. In this interdisciplinary study, the author wants to over bridge the differences between Diplomatic History and International Relations Theory, the subfields of History and Political Science. In the first part, there is an analysis of current Sino-Soviet Split historiography (Lorenz Lüthi, Sergey Radchenko, Xia Yafeng, Austin Jersild) by using theories of International Relations (liberalism, realism and constructivism). The second part provides a historical description of the Sino-Soviet Split. Emphasis is placed on the Chinese side and especially regarding the role of Mao Zedong. This thesis focuses on the period between 1958 and 1964, nevertheless it is neccessary to include preceding and subsequent phases of the relations. It is essential due to cultural, ideological and national factors. These factors endured a long time and it would be impossible to...

本文以「新現實主義」(neorealism)，或被稱為「結構現實主義」(structural realism)做為研究途徑，從國際政治系統層次體系，探究美國在二十一世紀後，所進行的東亞軍力調整。本文首先檢視二十一世紀後東亞戰略環境，以及美國的兩位總統，小布希(George W. Bush)，以及歐巴馬(Barrack Obama)，的面對這樣的東亞安全環境，採取的戰略與政策儘管有不同，但同樣在軍事及外交上，強化與東亞國家之關係，藉以建構一個對美國有利的東亞安全環境，藉以面對來自崛起中國的挑戰。接著，本文將探究美國與中國之關係，藉以釐清美國在進行東亞軍力調整中，如何處理中國的因素後，探討美國在二十一世紀後，在東亞進行的軍力調整的原因、方針以及概況，以及美國的東亞盟邦在軍力調整後所扮演的角色，並探究美國在東亞軍力整編時所面對的困境與挑戰。 本文發現，二十一世紀美國進行東亞軍力調整之時，也反應了其東亞外交與安全戰略，以及美國建構一個以「美日同盟」為主軸的安全戰略體系已經形成，並由美國的其他東亞盟邦輔助支援。然而，美國的東亞軍力調整，也面臨了許多困難與挑戰，包括美國東亞盟邦，甚至美國自身的問題等。 最後，本文也建議未來可針對抑制中國軍事能力的戰略，以及台灣在美國東亞安全戰略可以扮演的角色進行研究。 / The research approach used in this dissertation is neorealism (structural realism). From the system of level in the international politics, this dissertation explore how the United States conducted its military realignment in East Asia. Firstly, this dissertation will examine the security environment of East Asia in the twenty-first century. Although two U.S. Presidents, George W. Bush and Barrack Obama, adopted different policies when facing such an East Asia security environment, they both strengthened relations with Asia-Pacific countries militarily and diplomatically. They intended to construct an East Asian security environment favorable for U.S. interests so that U.S. can face the challenges from the rising China. Later on, this dissertation will explore U.S.-Chinese relations to clarify how U.S. handle Chinese factors in its military realignment in East Asia. Besides, this dissertation will explore the reasons, policies, how U.S. proceed its military realignment, and the roles played by U.S. allies and partners. Finally, this dissertation will examine the difficulties and challenges that U.S. will have faced in its military realignment. This dissertation finds that U.S. military realignment in East Asia reflects its diplomacy and security strategy. Meanwhile, an U.S. security strategy based on U.S.-Japan alliance has established, with the support from other U.S. allies and partners in East Asia. However, the U.S. indeed faces difficulties and challenges, including problems from its allies and even the U.S. itself. Lastly, this dissertation suggest some research directions in the future, including a strategy which can suppress Chinese capabilities, and the role that Taiwan can play in the comprehensive U.S. East Asia security strategy.