EAST ASIA WORKSHOP: POLITICS, ECONOMY & SOCIETY
“Anchoring an Alliance: Explaining Southeast Asian Balancing Behavior Against China After 1945”
Bonnie Chan
PhD Candidate, UChicago Political Science
Oct 24, Wed 12:00-1:30 pm
Pick Lounge, 5828 South University Ave.
Pizza will be provided
Abstract
Under what circumstances would a group of small and medium states balance against a large threat? Despite China’s exponential economic growth in the past few decades and its growing ambition in the South China Sea, there has not been a concerted regional effort to contain China. I posit that because of the asymmetry of power among states in Asia, there exists a peculiar sort of collective action problem – deterrence from external balancing becomes a threshold public good. The implication is that no one state has an incentive to start a balancing coalition even if all of China’s neighbors would prefer joining one. To solve the collective action problem, I argue that the commitment of an extra-regional great power is necessary. To test my theory, I examine how changes in American commitment to various Southeast Asian states during the Cold War and after the Cold War influenced what actions Southeast Asian leaders took to balance against the rising regional threat of each period.
* Subscribe to our workshop mailing-list at: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/info/east-asia
* Abstract or description of each presentation will be posted on our website: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/eastasia
* Questions and comments can be addressed to the student coordinators Jongyoon Baik: baikjongyoon@uchicago.edu and Ji Xue: jixue@uchicago.edu
*Persons with disabilities who believe they may need assistance please contact the student coordinators in advance.
The East Asia Workshop is sponsored by the Council on Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences.
Faculty Sponsors:
Xi Song (Sociology), xisong@uchicago.edu
Dali Yang (Political Science), daliyang@uchicago.edu
The East Asia Workshop is sponsored by the Council on Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences.