Thesis advisor: Robert S. Ross / This dissertation presents a structured and focused comparison of how Chinese leaders and academics have perceived the security cooperation of states on China’s periphery. This study examines three cases: the U.S.S.R.-Vietnam Alliance (1978-1989); the U.S.-Japan Alliance (1990-2016) and the U.S.-South Korea Alliance (1990-2016). They exemplify adversarial alliances in that they represent security cooperation that threatened or potentially threaten Chinese vital interests. Similarly, they all represent adversarial alliances of an asymmetric power relationship between a larger and smaller state. I gathered this data from Chinese journal articles and books related to the three cases, interviewed Chinese academics and think tank analysts, and compared the Chinese perceptions with non-Chinese primary and secondary sources. The research explores how well four concepts describe alliance behavior in the evidence. The first three concepts relate to how China views the alliances’ intentions, capabilities, and cohesion. The fourth concept relates to China’s self-perception as a rising state relative to the adversarial alliances. Knowledge of Chinese past and present perceptions of adversarial alliances should assist academics and policy makers in understanding the implications of security cooperation of states that are in close proximity to the Chinese mainland. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

本文的研究目的在於觀察美國總統歐巴馬任期內的美日同盟關係之互動，並加入當前國關學界對於「同盟政治」以及東亞區域安全課題的討論。由此，在研究過程中，首先詳述美國與日本的國家安全戰略與外交立場，以及兩國之間的互動如何有效維繫彼此的同盟關係。 在具體研究步驟上，同盟內部協調能力與面臨外在情勢的同盟凝聚力是本文主要探討的的兩大重點。本文首先將美日關係中的安全、政治與經貿議題當作同盟的內部因素，檢視美日同盟之間的合作與分歧議題，以及美國總統歐巴馬與日本首相之間的互動過程，藉此評估美日同盟的協調能力；另以中國因素做為外部因素，討論中國對於美日同盟的各項影響，再以案例分析，檢視美國處理中日爭執議題的立場與實際作為，觀察美日同盟與中國之間的互動過程，藉此檢視美日同盟的凝聚力。最後部分則總結美日同盟在歐巴馬總統任期內的整體變化與效能分析。 / This research focuses on the alliance politics of the US-Japan alliance in the Obama administration. From 2009 to 2014, the Obama administration has faced five different Japanese cabinets, both the governments of the US and Japan had different perceptions regarding the alliance cohesion and coordination. These perceptions, in addition to their political, economic, and secure interactions have created multiple impacts on the US-Japan alliance. The China factor is another key issue during this research. Although China and the United States are very far from being adversaries as they were in the beginning of the Cold War era, they do engage in issues like South China Sea, East China Sea, and the global economic competition. The Obama administration is also trying to avoid the alliance security dilemma—the risk of entrapment and the cost of abandonment—with the malign China-Japan relations. Besides, this research further investigates how the US-Japan alliance has adjusted itself to the changes and challenges in the global and the East Asia regional security.

This thesis examines the foreign policy evolution of Japan from the time of its modernization during the mid-nineteenth century though the present. It is argued that infringements upon Japanese sovereignty and geopolitical vulnerabilities have conditioned Japanese leaders towards power seeking policy objectives. The core variables of statehood, namely power and sovereignty, and the perception of state elites are traced over this broad time period to provide a historical foundation for framing contemporary analyses of Japanese foreign policy. To facilitate this research, a unique framework that accounts for both the foreign policy preferences of Japanese leaders and the external constraints of the international system is developed. Neoclassical realist understandings of self-help and relative power distributions form the basis of the presented analysis, while constructivism offers crucial insights into ideational factors that influence state elites. Social Identity Theory, a social psychology theory that examines group behavior, is integrated to conceptualize the available policy options. Surveying Japanese foreign policy through this framework clarifies the seemingly irreconcilable shifts in Japan's foreign policy history and clearly delineates between political groups that embody distinct policy strategies and norms. Consequently, the main contribution of this thesis lies in the development of a theoretical framework that is uniquely positioned to identify historical trends in foreign policy. Owing to the numerous shifts in modern Japan's foreign policy history, this research identifies and examines three distinguishable Japanese “states”: Meiji Japan (1868 - 1912), Imperial Japan (1912 - 1945), and postwar Japan (1945 - present).