Strategies of Security Cooperation: External Balancing in Chinese Foreign Policy, 1949–Present

About

Speaker: Eleanor Freund, Research Fellow, International Security Program

What factors explain variation in China's security cooperation with other states? Why has China formed alliances or deployed troops to fight alongside partners in some cases, while in others it has limited itself to the transfer of weapons or the signature of neutrality agreements? More generally, how can scholars measure and explain the range of security cooperation behaviors that states exhibit in both peacetime and war?

This presentation will offer a general typology of interstate security cooperation that includes both formal and informal cooperation. Additionally, it will introduce a theory grounded in external threat to explain states' decisions to engage in each type of security cooperation. The conceptual and theoretical implications of this framework will be examined in the context of China's security relationships with other states, with a particular focus on its relationship with North Korea serving as empirical support.

Open to Harvard ID Holders Only: Admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. Coffee &Tea Provided.

Contact

For more information, email the International Security Program Assistant at susan_lynch@harvard.edu.