none

The premise of this dissertation is straight-forward – the U.S., as hegemon, acts unilaterally given the power disparity between it and the rest of the world. In solving the puzzle of why presidents make the “wrong” decision to act alone, I organize international conflict literature along traditional lines – international and domestic explanations – and use Gilpin’s (1981) hegemonic stability theory to test a theory of unilateral use of force decision making. In order to overcome a lack of scientific study on unilateralism, I devise a definition and coding rules for unilateral use of force, develop a sequential model of presidential use of force decision making, and construct a new, alternative measure of military power, a Composite Indicator of Military Revolutions (CIMR). I then use three methods – a statistical test with a heckman probit model, an experiment, and case studies – to test U.S. crisis behavior since 1937. I find that presidents are realists and make an expected utility calculation to act unilaterally or multilaterally after their decision to use force. The unilateral decision, in particular, positively correlates with a wide military gap vis-à-vis an opponent, an opponent located in the Western hemisphere, and a national security threat.

none

The thesis deals with analysis of China with respect to its potential hegemony which is defined by three various attributes. Firstly, the economic attribute examines the economic performance of the country, formed by GDP level and its several components. Concerning foreign trade, the most essential part is the country's import situation. As for the financial attribute, it is observed how elements of hegemony interact with the usage of China's currency as the world's key currency and the effects of developed financial or capital markets. The last attribute is concerned with the diplomatic position of the country, determined by the level of military expenditures and its voting power within various international institutions.

This thesis explores the role the U.S. plays in the developmental process of international nonproliferation regime. The argument of this thesis is mainly based on the power-based perspective, which assumes that the U.S., the first country to obtain nuclear technology, profoundly influences the creation and persistence of the nonproliferation regime. First of all, I discuss the debate on the theories of international regime in order to highlight the applicability of power-based approach in the research of nonproliferation regime. Secondly, I examine both the nuclear policy of the U.S. and the developmental history of nonproliferation regime, so as to explain the former¡¦s impacts over the latter. Finally, I evaluate the different means and postures of the U.S. when she confronts different violators. Through this inquiry, I attempt to expose the flaw of the nonproliferation regime: the proliferation problem is still not totally suspended even after the establishment of the nonproliferation regime. The main factor of the flaw is, nonetheless, resulted from the U.S.¡¦ misapplication of her nuclear hegemonic power and her selective proliferation policy towards different violators, although she had positively contributed to the creation and persistence of the nonproliferation regime.

The thesis deals with comparing China and United States in terms of their potential hegemonic status. A country can be considered as a hegemonic country only if it fulfills various attributes. Its economic leadership is defined by consistency of inner market and by generated imports. Those are supported by advanced financial market and national currency, which is also considered as a world currency. Institutional scope is summarized by privileged position of its army and it defines hegemonic country as a center of innovation and technological progress.

The U.S. has enjoyed global hegemonic power for over 70 years and even more so after the fall of the Soviet Union. However, some political scientists argue that it is descending and the evidence lies in the increasing power of China. An imbalance of power in the international structure has the ability to result in different outcomes. The realist theory suggests that a conflict between the U.S. and China is unavoidable, the liberal theory suggests that the economic dependency between the two makes conflict less possible, while the constructivist theory suggests that the outcome depends on the reaction of the leaders and social change. This study asks what the reaction of the President of the U.S. is to the rise of China to find out the result of this hegemonic power imbalance. By using discourse analysis, this study has analyzed the remarks of President Trump from the period of January 2017 to November 2017 in search of his reaction to the rise of China. The results of this study show that President Trump divides the world in two parts making the U.S. the protagonist and the rest of the world, including China, the antagonist in his discourse as his reaction. Due to this reaction, Trump takes nationalistic and protectionist measures against China.

本論文旨在探討二十一世紀，美國面臨中國在東亞的經營，如何維持其在東亞的霸權所作的努力。冷戰結束後，美國在國際社會成為碩果僅存的霸權。藉此優勢，美國得以遂其意志，有些甚至非其能力所及。雖然美國可確定是當今唯一的霸權，但中國挾其經濟快速起飛之利，不但在全球各地揮舞其影響力，更試圖擴大外交上的戰果。此外，中國軍事成長之快速，從軍事現代化到太空競賽，足以顯示中國將改變東亞的政治環境及地區安全。因此，中國的崛起對美國霸權，尤其在東亞，被視為一潛在的威脅。美國要如何鞏固其在東亞的霸權領導地位，自然為當前極為迫切的議題。由研究發現，美國所作的努力倍極艱辛、複雜但結果是成功的。 / After the end of the Cold War in 1991, the United States poses a unique position in the international system. As hegemony, the U.S. has the greatest stake in the existing order. Yet it also takes advantage of its position as the most powerful nation in the world to bend that order to its will and even act outside the limits of the system. It seems to confirm American hegemony, with the U.S. left as the only superpower. With its soaring rise, however, China is looming as a potential challenger to the U.S. hegemony in East Asia. China not only wields radically increasing commercial clout in all regions of the globe, but also tries to achieve diplomatic advantage with respect to the United States. Further, Beijing’s rapid, deep, and wide-ranging modernization in military capabilities ranging from diesel submarines to micro-satellites and the launching of ballistic missile destroying one of its own orbiting weather satellites will enable China to increasingly dominate the East Asian littoral. Therefore, how to maintain American hegemony especially in East Asia has become a pressing issue for the United States. The thesis uses in-depth studies of critical literature and case study to analyze the wrestle between U.S. and China in East Asian Area. From the research one can find that the effort the U.S. has made to maintain its hegemonic leadership in East Asia is hard but successful.

Roraima é um caso emblemático, assim como a Amazônia, como ilustrações das profundas mudanças das ações implementadas pelo Estado nacional brasileiro nos últimos 50 anos, com destaque para as últimas duas décadas e meia, em razão, principalmente, do aprofundamento da globalização, das ideologias e mecanismos dos regimes internacionais de meio ambiente e de direitos humanos dos povos indígenas. Derradeira fronteira econômica do Norte brasileiro, o território roraimense está institucionalmente protegido contra a sua utilização para a produção agropecuária em bases capitalistas (propriedade privada, liberdade de utilização do fator terra, orientação para o mercado). A superfície sob proteção atinge mais de 93% do território roraimense, restando em torno de 7% utilizáveis como capital natural para o desenvolvimento de atividades econômicas. Na Amazônia Legal, as áreas protegidas representam quase três quartos (3/4) da sua superfície. A construção desse território é resultado direto da decisão do Estado nacional brasileiro de assumir o papel de protagonista nas relações internacionais, explicado pela ótica da ideologia, fruto das relações Centro-Periferia. O objetivo dos países do Centro do sistema de relações internacionais é a manutenção da Estabilidade Hegemônica, tendo como instituições os regimes internacionais de meio ambiente e de direitos humanos; e como estruturas organizacionais as organizações internacionais e as organizações não governamentais. Esse objetivo se projeta sobre países detentores de capital natural ainda inexplorado, especialmente de florestas tropicais, e seu rebatimento sobre o território desses países se configura na criação de espaços protegidos. E a Amazônia é o coração – organismo vital – o lócus principal dessa Nova Ordem Internacional. Tais espaços transformam os territórios construídos em verdadeiros depósitos de capital natural, expressos em matérias-primas já conhecidas e a biodiversidade ainda em processo de descobrimento para sua possível utilização futura, sob a ótica e o interesse dos países do Centro, num cenário mundial de preocupação com os efeitos das mudanças climáticas e a escassez face o crescimento populacional planetário. Embora os territórios protegidos pareçam contrariar a lógica da expansão do capital na esfera produtiva, sua reprodução segue garantida pela ação do capital financeiro internacional, por meio da financeirização dos chamados serviços ambientais. Esses objetivos são perseguidos tendo como pano de fundo, para encobri-los, a permanente ameaça de um futuro sombrio para a humanidade devido ao aquecimento do planeta motivado pela forma com que os humanos lançam gases tóxicos na atmosfera. Embora o tema seja controverso, pois, afinal, outros cientistas atribuem o aquecimento global a fenômenos geológicos e/ou ao funcionamento do próprio sistema solar, e não às ações antrópicas, o certo é que restou dominante no conserto das relações internacionais entre os países a ideia de que é preciso fazer algo para mitigar os efeitos da intervenção humana no meio natural. Essas ideias processam interesses que geram políticas ambientais e indigenistas, cuja práxis é a criação de áreas protegidas na Amazônia Legal, que transformaram Roraima numa espécie de laboratório a céu aberto de experiências dos regimes internacionais de meio ambiente e direitos humanos dos povos indígenas, que têm por referência conceitual a ideia de desenvolvimento sustentável. / Roraima is an emblematic case, as the Amazon, as illustrations of the profound changes the actions implemented by the Brazilian national state in the last 50 years, especially the last two and a half decades, mainly due to the deepening of globalization ideologies and mechanisms international regimes environmental and human rights of indigenous peoples. Last economic frontier of northern Brazil, Roraima territory is institutionally protected its use for agricultural production on a capitalist basis (private property, free use of the land factor, market orientation). The surface under protection reaches over 93% of Roraima territory, leaving around 7% usable as natural capital for the development of economic activities. In the Amazon, protected areas account for almost half of its surface. The construction of this territory is a direct result of the decision of the Brazilian national state to assume the role of protagonist in international relations, explained from the perspective of ideology, the result of center-periphery relations. The purpose of the system of international relations of the Centre's countries is the maintenance of Hegemonic Stability, with the institutions the international regimes of the environment and human rights; and as organizational structures the international organizations and NGOs. This goal is projected on countries with untapped natural capital, especially tropical forests, and its bounce on the territory of these countries are set by the creation protected areas. And Amazon is the heart - vital body - the main locus of this New World Order. Such spaces transform the built territories into true deposits of natural capital, expressed in already known raw materials and biodiversity still in discovery process for possible future use, from the perspective and interests of the Centre's countries in a global scenario of concern with the effects of climate change and the scarcity face the planetary population growth. Although protected areas appear to contradict the logic of capital expansion in the productive sphere, reproduction follows guaranteed by the action of international financial capital through the financialization of so-called environmental services. These goals are pursued with a background that covers them the permanent threat of a bleak future for humanity due to the heating of the planet motivated by the way that human release toxic gases into the atmosphere. Although the issue is controversial because, after all, other scientists attribute global warming to geological phenomena and / or the operation of the solar system itself, and not to human actions, the correct fact is that remain dominant in the concert of international relations between countries the idea that something must be done to mitigate the effects of human intervention in the natural surroundings. These ideas process interests that generate environmental and indigenous policies, whose practice is the creation of protected areas in the Legal Amazon that have transformed Roraima in a species of laboratory under open sky to international regimes of the environment and human rights of indigenous peoples experiences, whose conceptual reference the idea of sustainable development.

Roraima é um caso emblemático, assim como a Amazônia, como ilustrações das profundas mudanças das ações implementadas pelo Estado nacional brasileiro nos últimos 50 anos, com destaque para as últimas duas décadas e meia, em razão, principalmente, do aprofundamento da globalização, das ideologias e mecanismos dos regimes internacionais de meio ambiente e de direitos humanos dos povos indígenas. Derradeira fronteira econômica do Norte brasileiro, o território roraimense está institucionalmente protegido contra a sua utilização para a produção agropecuária em bases capitalistas (propriedade privada, liberdade de utilização do fator terra, orientação para o mercado). A superfície sob proteção atinge mais de 93% do território roraimense, restando em torno de 7% utilizáveis como capital natural para o desenvolvimento de atividades econômicas. Na Amazônia Legal, as áreas protegidas representam quase três quartos (3/4) da sua superfície. A construção desse território é resultado direto da decisão do Estado nacional brasileiro de assumir o papel de protagonista nas relações internacionais, explicado pela ótica da ideologia, fruto das relações Centro-Periferia. O objetivo dos países do Centro do sistema de relações internacionais é a manutenção da Estabilidade Hegemônica, tendo como instituições os regimes internacionais de meio ambiente e de direitos humanos; e como estruturas organizacionais as organizações internacionais e as organizações não governamentais. Esse objetivo se projeta sobre países detentores de capital natural ainda inexplorado, especialmente de florestas tropicais, e seu rebatimento sobre o território desses países se configura na criação de espaços protegidos. E a Amazônia é o coração – organismo vital – o lócus principal dessa Nova Ordem Internacional. Tais espaços transformam os territórios construídos em verdadeiros depósitos de capital natural, expressos em matérias-primas já conhecidas e a biodiversidade ainda em processo de descobrimento para sua possível utilização futura, sob a ótica e o interesse dos países do Centro, num cenário mundial de preocupação com os efeitos das mudanças climáticas e a escassez face o crescimento populacional planetário. Embora os territórios protegidos pareçam contrariar a lógica da expansão do capital na esfera produtiva, sua reprodução segue garantida pela ação do capital financeiro internacional, por meio da financeirização dos chamados serviços ambientais. Esses objetivos são perseguidos tendo como pano de fundo, para encobri-los, a permanente ameaça de um futuro sombrio para a humanidade devido ao aquecimento do planeta motivado pela forma com que os humanos lançam gases tóxicos na atmosfera. Embora o tema seja controverso, pois, afinal, outros cientistas atribuem o aquecimento global a fenômenos geológicos e/ou ao funcionamento do próprio sistema solar, e não às ações antrópicas, o certo é que restou dominante no conserto das relações internacionais entre os países a ideia de que é preciso fazer algo para mitigar os efeitos da intervenção humana no meio natural. Essas ideias processam interesses que geram políticas ambientais e indigenistas, cuja práxis é a criação de áreas protegidas na Amazônia Legal, que transformaram Roraima numa espécie de laboratório a céu aberto de experiências dos regimes internacionais de meio ambiente e direitos humanos dos povos indígenas, que têm por referência conceitual a ideia de desenvolvimento sustentável. / Roraima is an emblematic case, as the Amazon, as illustrations of the profound changes the actions implemented by the Brazilian national state in the last 50 years, especially the last two and a half decades, mainly due to the deepening of globalization ideologies and mechanisms international regimes environmental and human rights of indigenous peoples. Last economic frontier of northern Brazil, Roraima territory is institutionally protected its use for agricultural production on a capitalist basis (private property, free use of the land factor, market orientation). The surface under protection reaches over 93% of Roraima territory, leaving around 7% usable as natural capital for the development of economic activities. In the Amazon, protected areas account for almost half of its surface. The construction of this territory is a direct result of the decision of the Brazilian national state to assume the role of protagonist in international relations, explained from the perspective of ideology, the result of center-periphery relations. The purpose of the system of international relations of the Centre's countries is the maintenance of Hegemonic Stability, with the institutions the international regimes of the environment and human rights; and as organizational structures the international organizations and NGOs. This goal is projected on countries with untapped natural capital, especially tropical forests, and its bounce on the territory of these countries are set by the creation protected areas. And Amazon is the heart - vital body - the main locus of this New World Order. Such spaces transform the built territories into true deposits of natural capital, expressed in already known raw materials and biodiversity still in discovery process for possible future use, from the perspective and interests of the Centre's countries in a global scenario of concern with the effects of climate change and the scarcity face the planetary population growth. Although protected areas appear to contradict the logic of capital expansion in the productive sphere, reproduction follows guaranteed by the action of international financial capital through the financialization of so-called environmental services. These goals are pursued with a background that covers them the permanent threat of a bleak future for humanity due to the heating of the planet motivated by the way that human release toxic gases into the atmosphere. Although the issue is controversial because, after all, other scientists attribute global warming to geological phenomena and / or the operation of the solar system itself, and not to human actions, the correct fact is that remain dominant in the concert of international relations between countries the idea that something must be done to mitigate the effects of human intervention in the natural surroundings. These ideas process interests that generate environmental and indigenous policies, whose practice is the creation of protected areas in the Legal Amazon that have transformed Roraima in a species of laboratory under open sky to international regimes of the environment and human rights of indigenous peoples experiences, whose conceptual reference the idea of sustainable development.