Study On The US-Philippines Alliance From The Perspective Of Asymmetric Alliance

Since the 21st century,alliance is still playing an important role in great power competition.Asymmetric alliance has become the norm of many bilateral and multilateral alliances in international relations,and the huge asymmetric alliance system centered on the United States has become the most striking alliance phenomenon at present.On the basis of summarizing the new progress of traditional alliance theory,asymmetric alliance theory and post-Cold War alliance theory,this paper summarizes the new characteristics of post-Cold War asymmetric alliance.The Philippines-US alliance is a typical asymmetric alliance,and these characteristics are very prominent in the Philippines-US alliance during the Duterte administration.According to the degree of dependence and autonomy of non-dominant countries to dominant countries.This paper takes July 1946 to June 2016 as the period,this paper divides the Philippine-US alliance into four stages:The period of close following and full dependence(Roxas to Garcia),limited following and increased autonomy(Macapagal to Marcos),weak following and strong autonomy(Aquino to Estrada),strong following and weak autonomy(Arroyo to Aquino Ⅲ).Since the formation of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States,both parties involved have demonstrated a marked asymmetry,and contradictions have always lingered.This article analyzes the contradictions and challenges that confront the alliance between the Philippines and the United States in five respects:the struggle for sovereignty and power and the contradiction between attachment and antagonism between the Philippines and the United States;whether China is a friend or a foe;constraints of domestic factors upon the alliance between the Philippines and the United States;the trammels of human rights issues and the ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations)factors in the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.During Duterte’s administration,the Philippine government’s pursuit of autonomic diplomacy was a significant variable that resulted in the alienation of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States,and it was an uncompromising challenge to the unequal interrelationship of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States by Duterte,who has the "anti-Americanism" endless knot.Apart from the political pattern in Southeast Asia and the elements of the contradictions of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States,Duterte’s individual policy preference is one of the key factors that can not be neglected to influence independence diplomacy in the changes of the interrelationship in the alliance between the Philippines and the United States during Duterte’s period.On the accession of the younger Marcos,the external circumstances with which the Philippines were confronted were not much altered.Despite this,the younger Marcos administration showed distinctpro-American leanings.The Philippines seems to have returned to a diplomatic policy of "leaning to one side".The diplomatic autonomy of the younger Marcos administration was once more lowered by its close association with the United States.The Philippines is deeply tied to its U.S.ally for its own strategic benefit.Once again,the interrelationship between the Philippines and the United States has undergone a shift from estrangement to intimacy.The swing of Philippine policies towards the United States is considered an important variable in this article,as Philippine decision-makers’evaluation of the strategic credibility of American allies is one of the important variables.Making a comprehensive survey of the development and vicissitudes of the interrelationship of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States,it is considered that the pursuit of diplomatic autonomy by the Philippines as a non-dominant country is a significant variable influencing the interrelationship between the Philippines and the United States.However,diplomatic autonomy is influenced by three factors:the Philippines’ different perceptions of China’s threat at the system level,the balance of interests within the alliance at the unit level,and decision-makers’ evaluation of the strategic credibility of the alliance.The different diplomatic policies of successive Philippine governments have been altering the close and distant interrelationships of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.When the Philippines,the non-dominant country,follows suit,its interrelationship with the dominant country,the United States,is tight.On the contrary,the Philippines’ diplomatic autonomy will be lowered;the interrelationship of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States will be more alienated when the Philippines pursues independent diplomacy.There are still a large number of indeterminacy factors as to the future direction of the interrelationship of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.The fluctuation of the external policies of the Philippine governments has determined the wavering development of the interrelationship of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.This article employs case analysis,analytic hierarchy process(AHP)and historical analysis to carry out the historical investigation and reason analysis of the changes of the interrelationship of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States from the point of view of the Philippines.The main innovative points are as follows:firstly,it generalizes and sums up the new changes of asymmetric alliance after the Cold War.That is to say,the non-dominant country in the asymmetric alliance is more likely to challenge the dominant country,and the dominant country’s reverse dependence on the asymmetric alliance magnifies;secondly,through the eyes of the Philippines,the non-dominant country,this article considers that the main reason for the swing of the Philippines’ policy towards the United States is the balance of interests between following and autonomy,and analyzes this at three levels:systems,units and decision-makers;at the same time,this article presents a chart-like compilation of the policies of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States adopted by successive presidents of the Philippines after its independence,and the changes in the interrelationship of the Philippines with its American ally and China under different president tenures;thirdly,this article makes a regularity outlook on the interrelationship of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.That is to say,the interrelationship of the alliance between the Philippines and the United States develops in a wave mode,sometimes tight,sometimes alienated,and keeps moving forward in twists and turns.