Asian Studies Commons^™

The Weaponization Of Transnational Crime: A Triangular Analytical Model For Hybrid Threat Development In U.S.–China–Russia Relations, 2000–2025, Michael J. Haak

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis examines the evolving strategic relationship between the United States, China, and Russia from 2000 to 2025 through a triangular model based on reactions to systemic pressures to core strategic interests. The study employs a thematic qualitative data analysis on U.S., Chinese, and Russian national security strategies to analyze strategic posturing between poles over time. This new model serves as the study’s basis for contextualizing hybrid threat development, specifically transnational crime as a proxy force of asymmetric power projection. The study found that the evolution of state-supported transnational crime serves as a by-product of reactions to systemic pressure. State …

Review Of Sheila A. Smith, Japan Rearmed: The Politics Of Military Power, Timothy C. Hebb

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Sheila Smith, a long-time political scientist focused on Asia-Pacific studies and an expert on Japan specifically, would publish possibly her most influential work in 2019: Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power. In this well-researched work of hers, she gives the reader an in-depth yet concise look at the reasons for Japan’s rearmament, the history of their Self Defense Force, and the challenging political situation that was built in the wake of a world war that still affects them today. This book goes over much of what is needed to understand why Japan’s military is in the shape it is …

Chinese Communist Party Infiltration Of U.S. Pacific Islands: Protecting American National Security Through Defending Strategic Pacific Assets, Contessa Amedore

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Many Americans picture the U.S.’s Western most border to be the coast of California. However, when threats have historically formed in the Pacific, U.S. Pacific Island territories have served as the nation’s first line of defense. Today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have slowly but ambitiously deployed new age or ‘unrestricted’ warfare tactics against the United States and allies in their long awaited plan to assume global hegemony. Their illegal infiltration and psychological operations have gone past Taipei and reached American soil in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. This paper examines how the (CCP) uses unrestricted warfare …

A Red Awakening: An Analysis Of China’S Quest For Global Dominance Through Economic Alternative Warfare Methods, Sarah Beddingfield

Senior Honors Theses

In the 2023 annual meeting of China’s parliament, Chinese President Xi made it clear to his political leaders and the world that he was preparing for war. This should come as no surprise after analysis of China's grand strategy points clearly to the intent to surpass the U.S. as the premier global superpower in all respects. China has been building towards this goal for years through untraditional methods of warfare, forcing the national security community to reevaluate its own strategy and assess the Chinese threat through a different lens. This thesis seeks to address one specific area in which China …

China: A Settler Colonial Empire?, Kaleb Horne

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

China’s rapid expansion is a growing concern to many in the West, yet the history and pattern of its meteoric rise is deeply misunderstood. Surprisingly, its rise may be similar to that of many Western states. This paper will examine a constellation of China’s territorial and cultural expansions. Furthermore, it will examine ongoing and future expansions of the Chinese empire. It will examine Chinese actions in Tibet, the Yunnan Province, the Guizhou Province, Taiwan, the Belt and Road Initiative, and examine China’s ongoing treatment of Uyghur Muslims. These subjects will also be qualitatively compared to settler colonial theories, as described …

The Importance Of Dialogue Between The United States And North Korea: How Can The United States Respond To The Nuclear Issue With North Korea?, Unbi Choi

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

The nuclear issue with North Korea could create even more danger in currently tense international relations. In reality, a long-standing economic sanction is a factor in North Korea's continued hostile attitude toward the United States. The Trump administration chose negotiation instead of economic sanctions. Negotiations succeeded in temporarily easing tensions between the United States and North Korea. However, the Biden administration put economic sanctions back on North Korea. Since then, North Korea has increasingly cultivated hostility, even more than in the last few years, and is further developing nuclearization. As this example indicates, economic sanctions would have negative consequences. The …

Unmasking The Holder Of The Purse Strings: Countering Chinese Economic Coercion In The Indo-Pacific, Rachel L. Davis

Senior Honors Theses

The Indo-Pacific is a key focal point of U.S.-China competition due to its geographical, economic, and military significance. China is using political warfare to achieve its strategic goals in the region, influencing other nations to align with its interests. Economic coercion is a key tool of this warfare. This is evident in the Pacific Islands, among America’s treaty allies, in Southeast Asia, and in South Asia. To prove itself the superior partner, maintain access to key points of land, and keep the Indo-Pacific open for trade, the U.S. must counter China’s activities. This can be achieved via a stronger economic …

Ambitions Of Chinese Hegemony: An Analysis Of The Hundred Year Marathon, Ruben E. Frivold

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Few national security threats challenge the magnitude posed by the People’s Republic of China toward the United States. This current reality is due to various factors, including Chinese persistence in implementing a grand strategy while facing minimal U.S. resistance due to various foreign policy missteps over the last half-century. China’s overarching approach to geopolitics has been a subject of much discussion and has often been referred to by experts as the ‘hundred-year marathon.’ The term derives its name from China’s objective of usurping America’s position as hegemon by 2049, a significant year that falls on the one-hundredth anniversary of the …

Cross-Cultural Managerial Behavior – A Comparative Study Between The Republic Of Korea And The United States Of America, Colson Richter

Senior Honors Theses

Among the many trade partners the United States engages with, the Republic of Korea is the nation’s seventh largest trading partner – exchanging over $154.9 Billion in 2020 (USTR, 2021). Despite this strong economic relationship between these two nations, the cultural distance that these societies have is one of the largest within anthropological academia (Hofstede, 2017). This reality creates the need for a solid framework of a management-focused, cultural understanding between these two countries.

In this study, academic literature will be collected and reviewed to lend insight into particular areas of culture that an American and Korean perspective would be …

The China-Russia Axis: What Does It Want And How Will It Get It?, Douglas J. Joseph

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

This paper examines the statements and actions by China and Russia and its leaders, ascertains what their economic and military objectives are and why, and describes how this powerful “Axis” intends to achieve them.

China Containment In East Asia: Preventative Or Provocative?, Rachel Solsman

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Since the end of World War II, the United States has developed and maintained its strategic alliances with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan, and has worked to contain China through bolstering its deterrence strategy. However, after a century of humiliation, China is modernizing its military capabilities, improving in trade, and increasing political cohesion to become a regional hegemon. In light of these changes to the international order, the United States must re-evaluate its involvement in East Asia, particularly concerning its alliances and current military and economic deterrence strategy against China. This paper will draw on a variety of …

Approaching Towards United Korea, Danbi Jung, Megan Chaney

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Theoretical Proposal

China Containment In East Asia: Preventative Or Provocative?, Rachel Solsman

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Since the end of World War II, the United States has developed and maintained its strategic alliances with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan, and has worked to contain China through bolstering its deterrence strategy. However, after a century of humiliation, China is modernizing its military capabilities, improving in trade, and increasing political cohesion to become a regional hegemon. In light of these changes to the international order, the United States must re-evaluate its East Asian alliances and its current military and economic deterrence strategy against China. This paper will discuss the history of these alliances, the rise of …

Maritime Moves: The American Response To The South China Sea Conflict, Joshua Jachlewski

Senior Honors Theses

China is quickly becoming a world power and will soon reach parity with the United States. China has gotten far more aggressive in its expansion, which extends to the islands within the South China Sea. China claims most of this based on the Nine-Dash Line, in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As the current world superpower, the United States must respond to these claims given the geostrategic importance of the region. An analysis of the current Chinese and US positions, as well as those of the other littoral states with competing claims, allows …

The Influence Of The Thirty-Six Stratagems On Chinese Strategy In The Diaoyu Islands, Brent Schuliger

Senior Honors Theses

The Diaoyu Islands are a small, uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea which has begun increasing in strategic significance due to its advantageous location near Taiwan and along the First Island Chain. The islands are currently under Japanese administration, but the People’s Republic of China considers them historically Chinese and contests Japan’s claim to the islands. A careful examination of China’s actions in challenging Japan’s rule over the Diaoyus reveals the influence of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, a tome of ancient Chinese military wisdom which provides a framework onto which China’s current strategy corresponds. This thesis examines the historical …

China Containment In East Asia: Preventative Or Provocative?, Rachel Solsman

Senior Honors Theses

Since the end of World War II, the United States has developed and maintained its strategic alliances with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan, and has worked to contain China through bolstering its deterrence strategy. However, after a century of humiliation, China is modernizing its military capabilities, improving in trade, and increasing political cohesion to become a regional hegemon. In light of these changes to the international order, the United States must re-evaluate its East Asian alliances and its current military and economic deterrence strategy against China. This paper will discuss the history of these alliances, the rise of …

Sex Trafficking And Slavery In Southeast Asia: To Free Captives, James D. Langteau, Timothy D. Dunham

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Millions of people derive income from the sex industry in Thailand. Some claims estimate that the sex industry accounts for 10% of all tourist money spent in Thailand. All sex trafficked people are at high risk of both mistreatment and disease. While not all sex workers are victims of human trafficking, the sex industry is deeply involved in the practice. Sex trafficking is defined as deceiving, coercing or forcing someone to take part in sexual activity. Sex trafficking can take various forms, sometimes by the use of force but often by deception. As those commanded to "go and make disciples," …

The Wealth Of Nations And The Advancement Of Collective Security, Kerry Daniel Good

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis will address the economic development of countries from the strategic perspective of the United States, and consider how this development will progress overlaid in the context of the Chinese framework for the projection of national power. Using an inter-disciplinary approach, this research will synthesize sources on national security policy and economics, while seeking a Christian apologetic framework to answer these questions: How can the United States promote the economic development of countries in the Asia-Pacific region using a biblical economic-development model, as a part of its national strategy? This thesis focuses on some of the political and socio-economic …

Christian Persecution In Pakistan: An Examination Of Life In The Midst Of Violence, Rebecca Seiler

Senior Honors Theses

As a nation founded on religious freedom, it is the duty of the United States to recognize those who stand up for these beliefs across the world in solidarity. International persecution of Christians has dramatically increased due to the spread of radical Islam throughout the world, particularly in South Asia. By means of active, violent persecution as well as more passive forms of aggression, daily life for Pakistani Christians is both challenging and dangerous. While there is no easy solution to this issue, it is essential to continue advocating for those facing persecution and punish the oppressors. The American church …

Sex-Trafficking In Cambodia: Assessing The Role Of Ngos In Rebuilding Cambodia, Katherine M. Wood

Senior Honors Theses

The anti-slavery and other freedom fighting movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did not abolish all forms of slavery. Many forms of modern slavery thrive in countries all across the globe. The sex trafficking trade has intensified despite the advocacy of many human rights-based groups. Southeast Asia ranks very high in terms of the source, transit, and destination of sex trafficking. In particular, human trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of forced prostitution remains an increasing problem in Cambodia. Cambodia’s cultural traditions and the breakdown of law under the Khmer Rouge and Democratic Kampuchea have contributed to …

English In South Asia And Pedagogical Implications, Brittany R. Ehret

Senior Honors Theses

English at present maintains a significant role as a second or foreign language in the region of South Asia as well as globally. In a discussion of this topic, it is important to explore a brief history of the expansion of English and its origins in South Asia. It is also essential to provide a background of South Asian English and its unique linguistic characteristics as well as its use in different contexts of South Asia. The perspectives of linguists and educators who are native to the region of South Asia should be included as much as possible in this …

The Pivot To Asia: South Korea As A Strategic Partner For U.S. Foreign Policy In Asia, Rachel M. Hale

Senior Honors Theses

The relationship between the United States and the Republic of South Korea requires reexamination due to the recent U.S. foreign policy shift from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region. The nature of the relationship has altered considerably over the past 70 years. South Korea is a leading country in East Asia, and a strengthened partnership could have many benefits for the United States. South Korea tends to be overlooked in foreign policy discussions because of the security concerns posed by North Korea; but South Korea possesses many qualities which could be utilized to the advantage of U.S. foreign policy. …

A Thread In Japan’S History: The Historical Journey Of Japanese Christianity To The Brink Of Modern Japan, Rebecca Velker

Senior Honors Theses

A Jesuit missionary named Francis Xavier pioneered the Christian faith in Japan in 1549. Japan was open to the gospel, and many missionaries followed Francis Xavier. Japanese people from a wide range of social standings supported Christianity for a variety of reasons. The Tokugawa government soon viewed Christianity as a threat to the authority of the Japanese government. Japan persecuted the Christians and the Japanese church was driven underground. Over two hundred years later during the Meiji Restoration, Japan altered its policies towards the West and tolerated Christianity in Japan. Despite never being fully welcomed, the Christian belief resonated with …

China And The New Asia: Policy Recommendations, Tasha N. Haug

Senior Honors Theses

The People’s Republic of China is an indispensable political and economic force in Asia. With the majority of the United States’ foreign economic interests invested in the Asia-Pacific region, the leading role that China is taking is a major concern. The Asia-Pacific region is strategically important to the US. How US policy makers craft foreign policy toward Asia has a direct impact on US involvement in the region. Unless the US becomes more invested in Asia, develops a comprehensive understanding of China’s role in the region, and proactively pursue strategic relationships, US influence in Asian affairs will become a thing …