Americans' perceptions of polarity and United States commitment to Korea, 1882--1950

This dissertation presents a set of hypotheses on US commitment to Korea (periphery) by examining several crucial junctures in US diplomacy toward Korea between 1882 and June 1950. My hypotheses rest on the realist theories of international relations, although I factor in the findings of perception theories. My main argument is that when the perception of multipolarity becomes dominant in Washington, the US commitment to Korea weakens, whereas when the perception of bipolarity becomes dominant, the US commitment to Korea strengthens.; I present four sub-hypotheses that explain the intervening process that leads to the changes in US commitment to Korea. These sub-hypotheses consider the strength of falling-domino images and the intensity of the ends-of-means analysis in US policy making toward Korea. I also investigate the pattern of diplomacy and whether differences in threat perception toward Korea's local adversary arose between Seoul and Washington.; These aspects are studied through a detailed investigation of the assessment process and diplomacy in three case studies. The chosen cases are: the US diplomacy during the Russo-Japanese War, the US policy toward Korea during the World War II, and the US policy toward Korea between 1947 and June 1950. During each of these periods, the US commitment to Korea showed dramatic changes. In examining these periods, I study the US policy toward Korea in the broad context of US policy toward East Asia and the world. In this way, this study presents an interpretive history of US diplomacy toward Korea in the broad context of East Asian international relations.