Alliance, Partnerships, And The Philippines' National Security Strategy (original) (raw)
Related papers
Security Pursuits of a Small Power: The Philippines-Japan Strategic Partnership
Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, 2022
The administration of former Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III pursued a policy of "lay[ing] the groundwork for a potential web of interlocking strategic partnerships" (Philippine NSC 2011, 29), essentially "expand[ing]… defense and security engagements" (Del Rosario 2013a) with other countries apart from the United States. The Aquino government broadened relations with other nations, including Japan, the country's first strategic partner. This study aims to determine the conditions under which small powers undertake strategic partnerships. Focusing on the Philippines-Japan strategic partnership, this study argues that the said partnership is driven by the need to support the current international order, promote capacity-building, and enhance the existing multilateral architecture.
Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, 2019
This article explores the efforts of Japan and Australia to enhance the naval capability of third countries—specifically the Philippines—threatened by the rise of China. Considered as middle powers, both countries are members of two associations of maritime democracies, namely: the Democratic Security Diamond (DSD), and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD). Since the formation of their special strategic partnership, Japan and Australia have jointly assisted in building up the capabilities of the Philippine Navy (PN), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and the Philippine Air Force (PAF). The recent dramatic shift in Philippine foreign policy direction fosters this triangular security relationship. On the one hand, President Rodrigo Duterte, in distancing the Philippines from the United States (the country’s traditional ally) favors closer security ties with Japan and Australia. On the other hand, Japan and Australia want to prevent the Philippines from gravitating closer to China’s orbit of influence and power. Gradually, however, this development can either modify or erode the American hub-and-spoke system of alliance in East Asia and increase the spoke-to-spoke links leading to the creation of minilateral and plurilateral security arrangements in the Indo–Pacific regio
The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, 2014
The article examines the reasons behind the Aquino Administration’s instantaneous support for the Obama Administration’s pivot to Asia as the Philippines negotiated and signed a framework agreement on enhanced defense cooperation with the U.S. This outright backing stems from President Aquino’s determination to counter China’s expansionism in the South China Sea. The 2012 Scarborough Shoal stand-off between the Philippines and China has validated the immediacy of this security arrangement which jibes with the U.S. strategic policy. In conclusion, the article contends that a small power like the Philippines--- when confronted by an emergent and potentially expansionist power—is not necessarily helpless since it has foreign policy choices, as well as the power to chart its own destiny.
The Role of Threat in the Dynamics of the Philippine-United States Alliance
Threat serves as an impetus in the foundation, development, revitalization, and waning of the contemporary Philippine-United States alliance. Using Stephen Walt’s balance of threat theory as the analytical framework, this study proves that, historically, the dynamics of the Philippine-U.S. alliance revolves around the interaction of threatcentric issues and the member-state’s response. Threat serves as the prime mover of the alliance; foreign aid, ideological solidarity, and institutional penetration do not guarantee the alliance stability. They do, however, serve as critical factors in the alliance management. Shared or unshared existential threats with external overtones have a greater impact on the alliance. Moreover, internal security threats affect alliance efficiency. A coordinated approach is needed to confront and master them. The Philippine Communist Insurgency of the CPP-NPA-NDF, the South China Sea Dispute with China, the ambiguity of 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty provisions including its executory mechanisms, and U.S. “strategic ambivalence” in the case of conflict serve as disconnecting factors of the Philippine-U.S. alliance. These factors created and continue to create friction between the Philippines and the United States. This study recommends that the allies must align their threat assessments, resolve or manage disconnecting threats, and then address the ambiguity of the agreement through further research and deeper strategic discourse.
2014
This article examines the Philippines’ strategy of external balancing against an aggressive China as it intensifies its security ties with the United States, its only strategic and long-standing ally. This course of action aims to strengthen the country’s defense relations with the United States, particularly in developing the territorial defense capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In this process, the Philippines finds it similarly essential to establish security ties with other bilateral defense partners of the United States, such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia. In conclusion, the article argues that fostering informal security arrangements with these countries enables the Philippines to confront a pressing and persistent maritime issue in Southeast Asia: China’s expansion in the South China Sea. Key words: alliances, external balancing, hub-and-spokes, Philippine–US relations, Philippine defense policy, internal balancing.