Master thesis analyzes strategic behavior of the PRC in the region of the Northeast Asia in direct relationship with regional missile defense. The aim is to analyze motives of China`s regional strategic behavior with respect to the specific technological element (= Theatre Missile Defense) on the basis of predetermined analytical levels: realistic, liberal and constructivist. But there are great differences in technological configuration of individual missile defense systems or in the configuration of the relationship of regional actors with the PRC. Thus the thesis will comprise of case studies analyzing the complex relationship of the PRC and regional actors (that are creating regional missile defense). The creation of regional missile defense can endanger China`s vital strategic interests (in the region of Northeast Asia) under specific conditions. But the regional strategic behaviour of the PRC is moderate. The aim is to explain, why the PRC does not change its regional strategic behavior in direct connection with emerging theater missile defence.

This doctoral thesis aims to provide a comprehensive and historical analysis of foreign policy behaviour of the principal states involved in nuclear talks on North Korea known as the Six-Party Talks (SPT). Despite the failure in achieving a primary objective of denuclearizing North Korea, the SPT were believed to provide interesting and informative cases to investigate dynamic interactions among states engaged in security talks with different motives and interests. For a holistic approach to foreign policy analysis, the thesis adopts a newly introduced theoretical framework called Interactionist Role Theory (IRT) which integrates the levels of analysis from individuals to international system by incorporating the concept of ‘roles’. Based on IRT, the thesis examines what drove the concerned states’ foreign policy shifts; what kinds of discrepancies the states experienced between or among competing roles (role conflicts); how successful their deliberate policy implementations were (role-makings); and what structural effects their foreign policy decisions had on the overall Six-Party Talks process. The thesis findings support the IRT premise that it is critical to understand a state’s perceived ideal roles to accurately identify the state’s motives for actions regarding particular foreign policy issues. The prevalence of inter-role conflicts at the time of states’ role-makings evinces that the SPT as social constraints did exert competing role expectations that challenged the member states’ role conceptions. Above all, the sequential analysis of the SPT process clearly shows the mutual influence between the member states (agents) and the SPT (social structure), which implies successful multilateral negotiations require reciprocal relations among participating states where all parties’ desired roles (role conceptions) are mutually verified and affirmed. The thesis is deemed to give insightful messages to conventional foreign policy readings that predominantly view the nuclear drama in the Northeast Asia region from a binary focus of US-DPRK mutual deterrence. / The full text has been embargoed.

北韓自1950年代起逐步建立其核武實力，形成對國際社會的嚴重威脅，基於其政權生存與經濟的需要，動輒以核武要脅國際社會換取能源、糧食援助及安全保障。1994年第一次北韓核武危機結束後，由於美國與北韓後續未確實履行核框架協議，從2002年10月北韓承認恢復其核計畫、美國開始停止對北韓供應重油起，北韓動作頻頻，除自2003年1月10日起宣佈退出禁止核子武器擴散條約外，更積極發展核武抗衡美國與國際社會，對相關國家的安全造成莫大影響，並期望藉此獲得所需的政治利益與經濟援助。北韓的行為引起國際關注，視之為第二次北韓核武危機。中共、南韓、日本、俄羅斯及美國對此均投以高度關注，努力謀求解決之道，而中共更是此次核武危機演變與發展的關鍵斡旋角色。 第二次北韓核武危機發生以來，中共對核武問題的解決發生了建設性的作用，各輪會談能夠持續運作，中共以穿梭外交遊走於各國功不可沒，其角色重要而多樣，儼然成為斡旋者、調停者、領導者、防衛者、緩衝器、利益攸關者、平衡者、機制建議者，若依北韓核武危機往良性發展的端倪來看，未來中共更可能兼具經濟支援者、安全保障者和制度監督者的角色。此次的核武危機為中共大國外交提供難得的歷史機運，藉由複雜的危機解決過程，緩和了危機的緊張態勢，更藉由與各國間的互動與合作，獲得實質外交進展，提高了中共的國際影響力，同時這樣的作為也是符合各方利益的最佳選擇。 本文主要包含兩大方向：首先探討第二次北韓核武危機的背景與判斷北韓發展核武的動機，繼之簡述兩次核武危機始末；接著統整自三邊會談、六方會談召開以來之情勢發展及與會各國互動形成的共識共決，分析中共居中的角色與其國家利益之間的關聯性，並研判該議題未來走向。 / Since 1950s North Korea has gradually built up its nuclear weapon capabilities, forming a serious threat to international community. Based on the need of regime survival and economy, North Korea frequently uses nuclear weapons in threatening international community for exchanges of energy, food aid and security assurances. After the end of the First North Korea Nuclear Crisis in 1994, US and North Korea did not actually carry out the Agreed Framework, North Korea confessed to restart its nuclear program in October 2002 while US suspended supplying heavy fuel oil to North Korea. In addition to its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, North Korea also actively develops nuclear weapons to contend with the US and international community, bringing about huge impacts on the security of relative countries, hoping to exchange for more political benefit and economic assistance. The behavior of North Korea has raised international attention, regarding it as the Second North Korea Nuclear Crisis. China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US all pay high attention and work hard to seek for solutions to the crisis. China has played a key role in the evolution and development of the Second North Korea Nuclear Crisis. Since the inception of the 2nd North Korea Nuclear Crisis, China has turned out to be constructively pivotal in solving nuclear weapon problems. The fact that six rounds of talks can take place continuously go to China’s credit, which pursues shuttle diplomacy to coordinate the activities of the other six-party talks participators, playing roles that are important yet various, apparently becoming a mediator, good officer, host, defender, buffer, stakeholder, balancer, mechanism keeper, and, in viewing from the point that North Korea Nuclear Crisis has been developed toward a more positive direction, China will more than likely take key role as economic supporter, security guarantor and mechanism supervisor. This nuclear crisis provides China a rare historical opportunity of big-power diplomacy. Through complex crisis solving process to détente intense situation and the interaction and cooperation among Northeast Asian nations to obtain actual diplomatic progress, the influence of China has soared while such action is the best choice in complying with relative nation’s interests. The study mainly include two directions: At first the background of the Second North Korea Nuclear Crisis be reviewed and the motive of North Korea in developing nuclear weapon be determined. Then how the two nuclear crises began and ended are briefly stated, followed by integration of situation development since the Three-party talks, Six-party talks and the common agreement formed among participating nations. The role of China and relations to its interest is analyzed and thus the future direction of the issues is also carefully studied.