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US Rebalancing Strategy and South Korea’s Middle Power Diplomacy

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Transforming Global Governance with Middle Power Diplomacy

Abstract

At the same time that the USA has unveiled its rebalance to Asia, South Korean foreign policy strategists have been carefully considering how their country can more effectively use diplomatic, economic, and military capabilities it has accrued as a result of its own rise to prominence as a G-20 member and top-tier trading economy. The discussion within South Korean foreign policy circles regarding its future strategy has been animated primarily by the idea that South Korea is a middle power. Therefore, a deeper understanding and application of attributes of a middle power to South Korea’s situation will assist South Korean policymakers by providing a constructive blueprint for South Korea’s foreign policy.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kim, Sung-han. “Global Governance and Middle Powers: South Korea’s Role in the G20.” CFR.org. February 2013. http://www.cfr.org/south-korea/global-governance-middle-powers-south-koreas-role-g20/p30062.

  2. 2.

    For more on this, see my chapter “The U.S.-ROK Alliance and the U.S. Rebalance to Asia,” in Strategic Asia 2014–2015: U.S. Alliances and Partnerships at the Center of Global Power. Ashley J. Tellis, Abraham M. Denmark, and Greg Chaffin, eds. Seattle: The National Bureau of Asian Research, December 2014.

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  4. 4.

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  5. 5.

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  6. 6.

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  7. 7.

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  8. 8.

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  10. 10.

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  11. 11.

    “Joint Communique, The 46th ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting,” Washington, DC, October 23, 2014. http://www.defense.gov/pubs/46th_SCM_Joint_Communique.pdf.

  12. 12.

    Snyder, “The U.S.-ROK Alliance and the U.S. Rebalance to Asia.”

  13. 13.

    Daniel R. Russel, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Washington, DC, June 25, 2014. http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2014/06/228415.htm.

  14. 14.

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  15. 15.

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  16. 16.

    “China Asked Korea Not to Sell Jets to Philippines,” Chosun ilbo, October 21, 2013. http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/10/21/2013102101068.html.

  17. 17.

    Scott Snyder, “North Korea’s Missile Threat and China’s Objections to South Korea’s Missile Defense, Forbes, February 13, 2015. http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottasnyder/2015/02/13/north-koreas-missile-threat-and-chinas-objections-to-south-koreas-missile-defense/.

  18. 18.

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  19. 19.

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  20. 20.

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  21. 21.

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  22. 22.

    Robert G. Sutter et al., “Balancing Acts: The U.S. Rebalance and Asia-Pacific Stability,” Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University, August 2013. http://www2.gwu.edu/~sigur/assets/docs/BalancingActs_Compiled1.pdf.

  23. 23.

    Jun Ji-hye, “ROK, U.S’s Defense Cost Sharing Pact Passed,” Korea Times, April 15, 2014. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/04/116_155431.html.

  24. 24.

    Brad Glosserman and Scott Snyder, The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015.

  25. 25.

    See Chap. 2.

  26. 26.

    Hillary Clinton, Remarks at the U.S. Institute of Peace China Conference, Washington, DC, March 7, 2012. http://www.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/2012/03/185402.htm.

  27. 27.

    Press Briefing by National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, June 8, 2013. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/08/press-briefing-national-security-advisor-tom-donilon.

  28. 28.

    Russel, Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

  29. 29.

    ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Busan HLF-4 Officially Opens on November 29 with a Plenary Session,” November 30, 2011. http://www.mofat.go.kr/ENG/press/ministrynews/20111129/1_30960.jsp?menu=m_10_10.

  30. 30.

    Cossa, Ralph and Brad Glosserman. “A Tale of Two Tales: Competing Narratives in the Asia Pacific.” Pacific Forum CSIS PacNet Number 84, December 1, 2014. http://csis.org/files/publication/Pac1484.pdf.

  31. 31.

    “Three Major Nations Absent as China Launches W. Bank Rival in Asia.” Reuters. November 4, 2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/china-aiib-idUSL6N0SI26S20141104.

  32. 32.

    “China Champions New Asian Security Concept: Xi.” Xinhua. May 21, 2014. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-05/21/c_133350781.htm.

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Snyder, S. (2016). US Rebalancing Strategy and South Korea’s Middle Power Diplomacy. In: Lee, S. (eds) Transforming Global Governance with Middle Power Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59359-7_3

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