| Taking Neoclassical Realism as the main theoretical perspective,this paper makes an all-round study on the foreign policy of Thaksin government in Thailand.Thaksin government has distinctive characteristics in the history of Thai constitutionalism.It has won the support of the grass-roots class accounting for the majority of Thailand’s population by implementing the "grass-roots policy",and established a stable political power by relying on the advantage of votes,thus breaking the historical destiny of "low efficiency and short life" of the Thai literati government.This paper basically follows the research idea of "analysis framework construction → historical tradition analysis→ policy practice investigation → characteristic induction and summary → impact variable analysis".Firstly,based on the Neoclassical Realism Theory,this paper constructs the research framework of Thailand’s foreign policy analysis,focuses on the different roles and effects of external constraints at the system level and internal initiatives at the unit level in Thailand’s foreign policy decision-making,and selects three independent variables: the power competition of foreign powers,the rise of regional powers and the process of regional integration,as well as four intermediary variables,such as leaders’ intention,state-society relations,strategic culture and domestic political power structure.They are used as important factors to analyze Thailand’s foreign policy.Secondly,this paper makes a historical investigation and analysis of Thailand’s foreign policy,focusing on the evolution,decision-making process and influencing factors of Thailand’s foreign policy during the cold war,and summarizes and abstracts the two biggest characteristics of Thailand’s foreign policy tradition: first,the "bamboo diplomacy" characterized by "taking root in the earth and swaying with the wind";Second,seeking balance among major powers and adopting a pragmatic and flexible foreign policy.This not only provides a historical basis and comparative sample for the analysis of Thaksin government’s foreign policy,but also constitutes the analysis category of an important intermediary variable-Strategic Culture-affecting Thaksin government’s foreign policy.Thirdly,this paper makes an in-depth and detailed investigation on the foreign policy practice of Thaksin government.Through the analysis and interpretation of the cabinet policy report of Thaksin’s two terms of office,it can be seen that Thaksin government has established the "enterprising" foreign policy thought with "enterprising and promising" as the policy keynote.Under the guidance of this policy ideology,Thaksin government has implemented the peripheral policy of "helping and enriching neighbors",the regional policy of "taking ASEAN as the center" and the balanced and diversified big country policy,and put forward a series of groundbreaking foreign policy initiatives,including the Asian Cooperation Dialogue,the Iran Mekong economic cooperation strategy,the construction of bilateral free trade area and the policy aimed at promoting Myanmar’s political transformation "Bangkok process".These policies serve the foreign policy goal of Thaksin government-shaping the status of a regional power.They are concrete measures to implement foreign policy ideas such as "active economic diplomacy","prosperous neighborhood" and "Asians’ Asia".They have achieved varying degrees of success and have positive significance in promoting regional peace,stability and economic development.Finally,this paper summarizes the characteristics of Thaksin government’s foreign policy,that is,taking seeking regional leadership as the policy goal and "enterprising" Taking foreign policy as the guiding ideology,deepening cooperation in the economic field as the policy focus,and building a mutually beneficial and prosperous neighboring country relationship as the policy basis,using the foreign policy analysis theoretical framework constructed above,this paper demonstrates the impact of many variables at the system level and unit level on the foreign policy of Thaksin government.The article holds that the foreign policy of Thaksin government is a critical inheritance of Thailand’s "bamboo diplomacy".It not only adheres to the policy starting point of safeguarding national interests and the characteristics of pragmatic and flexible policies,but also completely changes the "passive" policy attribute and implements a proactive foreign policy.The external environment shaped by external factors such as the "returns to Southeast Asia" of United States,the rise of China and India and the accelerated development of globalization determines the general direction of Thaksin government’s foreign policy.Thaksin’s political strongman style,overall unified state-society relations and the domestic political power structure led by political parties are the fundamental factors that distinguish him from the foreign policy tradition and show a keen reform trend. |
