Political Science Commons^™

Chinese Intellectual Property Theft On United States Innovation In The Aerospace, Energy, And Pharmaceutical Economic Sectors Through Human Intelligence And Cyber Intelligence Collection, Preston Martz

Honors Theses

In cases of Chinese intellectual property theft on aerospace, energy, and pharmaceutical sectors in the United States, does Chinese intelligence collection favor HUMINT or CYBINT for collection? Sub questions also arise, including: to what extent does the amount of information collected vary by collection through HUMINT vs. CYBINT? Furthermore, does the sector where IP theft is used change the method of collection used? Finally, to what extend do case factors and outcomes affect the collection method used?

From Parallel Beginnings To Divergent Destinies: A Comparative Study Of China’S State-Led Liberalization Growth And Pakistan’S Dependency Trap, Safeer Ahmad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the development trajectories of China and Pakistan, which shared a similar colonial legacy and hampered economic, political, and social conditions at the time of their establishment in the mid-20th century. However, despite these similarities, the former is a global power, and the latter is still struggling to project a sustained development approach in the 21st century. This research addresses this divergent outcome by using a comparative approach to analyze the institutional, economic, and policy decisions of both countries that eventually shaped their contemporary position and role in the international community. China’s reformation period under a centralized government …

Analyzing The Role And Impact Of Energy Resources On The South China Sea Dispute, Adam Opp

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

The South China Sea is a critical but contested body of water that has been the source of much international debate and focus. The sea is a strategic maritime route and one of the most important waterways for regional and global trade. The South China Sea features rich natural resources such as fisheries and hydrocarbons, especially unknown amounts of oil and natural gas remaining untapped throughout the sea. Geological surveys estimate extremely lucrative quantities of oil and natural gas in the South China Sea, which drives the conflict, as nations with competing territorial claims seek to control not just the …

Securitizing Kinmen: China’S Gray Zone Strategy And The Evolution Of The Kinmen Model, Ian Murphy

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This paper examines the evolving dynamics of cross-strait relations through the lens of securitization theory, focusing on China’s strategic deployment of what it calls the Kinmen Model and its implications for regional security. While existing discourse predominantly concentrates on a potential full-scale invasion of Taiwan, this study shifts attention to the strategic significance of the outlying islands and the nuanced employment of securitization to exert indirect control. Utilizing Vuori’s (2008) framework for analyzing securitization in non-democratic contexts, this research conducts a discourse analysis of nineteen Chinese language media sources to dissect the speech acts employed by Chinese media and their …

Parameters Autumn 2025, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Autumn 2025 issue of Parameters. We open with two In Focus commentaries. The first, “A Case for Military Proportionality: Disabling Nuclear Plants” by Henry Sokolski, offers practical ways in which military planners can disable civilian targets, such as nuclear infrastructure, without undermining operational goals, alliance cohesion, or long-term political objectives. Our second commentary, “The Consequences of Declining Patriotism in the United States” by Neil N. Snyder, presents findings from a national survey showing a decline in patriotism, especially among Generation Z nonveterans. His article highlights a growing civil-military values gap with implications for recruitment and national …

The Political Framing Of The 2024 China-Indonesia Joint Statement, Mahbi Maulaya

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

Political leaders always carefully choose what to say and how to state it, as all words count for influencing the public, explicitly or implicitly. Eventually, the ideas framed in a political statement are best understood contextually rather than merely textually. After Prabowo Subianto, the president of Indonesia, visited China in November 2024, both countries released a controversial joint statement. This article aims to analyse the political frames observable in the 2024 China-Indonesia joint statement with a discourse analysis method. The article found five political frames in the statement: 1) Indonesia agrees to China’s vision of global order; 2) China has …

Towards All-Under-Heaven: China’S Geoeconomic Strategy In The Asia-Pacific Region, Alfariza Dika Azzani

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This research aims to understand China’s geoeconomic strategy in reshaping the alternative international order in the Asia-Pacific region. China’s economic rise increased its geopolitical influence and significance as a global great power. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government, under Xi Jinping, has adopted classical ideas in its foreign policymaking, including tianxia. Tianxia is a classical concept of a hierarchical Sinocentric international order. An empirical study was conducted on several cases of China’s economic policy and analysed with the congruence method to determine the correlation between the tianxia concept and China’s economic policy. Tianxia served as a paradigm and justification for …

Anatomy Of An Ai Arms Race: U.S. And China Technological Dispute For Ai Leadership, Denisse I. Rojas Maldonado

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The history of societies and the emergence of powerful states have been marked by cycles of conflict and war, followed by periods of cooperation that foster international stability. Similarly, the Cold War era saw a significant rise in military and economic capabilities, which highlighted a security dilemma as the former USSR and the United States sought to protect their national interests. Currently, artificial intelligence has expanded the scope of invisible warfare beyond the atomic bomb. Some scholars like Paul Scharre advocate that there is no arms race in place, and others support the idea of a healthy competition and collaboration …

Not All Political Ties Are The Same: Firms' Ties To The Government And Pollution, Wen Helena Li, Ilya R. P. Cuypers, Gokhan Ertug, Hari Bapuji, Wei Liu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Complementing research on the implications of political ties for firms’ strategic decisions and financial performance, recent studies are increasingly focusing on the environmental consequences of firms’ political connections. We contribute to this stream of work by integrating insights from the literature on political ties and the multifaceted nature of governments to explore how the level of government influences the pollution implications of firms’ political ties. Specifically, we theorize and demonstrate that, in China, firms' achieved political ties with high levels of the government reduce pollution, while such ties with low levels of the government increase it. Furthermore, we examine how …

Parameters Summer 2025, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Summer 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific Challenges, Russia-Ukraine Issues, and Historical Studies).

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Summer 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific Challenges, Russia-Ukraine Issues, and Historical Studies).

China’S Role In A Future Korean War, Jake Rinaldi

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues that China’s intervention in a Korean conflict will hinge more on North Korea’s ability to hold territory than on bilateral ties. Rather than treat Chinese intervention as a yes-or-no proposition, this study models three scenarios—full intervention, sustained support, and limited support—based on North Korean resilience. Using Chinese-language sources and scenario-based analysis, it assesses how each model would shape key functional areas such as ISR, cyber, materiel, and force posture. The findings offer US defense planners a framework for anticipating variable People’s Liberation Army involvement in a future Korea contingency.

The Next National Defense Strategy: Mission-Based Force Planning, Frank G. Hoffman

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The Pentagon needs to embrace a new methodology called mission-based planning to size and shape the defense enterprise properly. This article critiques several proposals for reestablishing the long-standing two major theater war construct in the face of ongoing shifts in the strategic environment, including the nation’s $36 trillion debt and prospects of annual interest payments beyond $1 trillion. It presents a mission priority alternative focused on strategic prioritization based on the authors’ four decades of experience in strategy/force planning at the service, the department, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense levels. Strategic-level service planners and students of Joint …

Strategic Narratives To Counter Global Threats, Jerry E. Landrum, Chase Metcalf, Michael M. Posey

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues that the current National Security Strategy lacks the necessary coherence and fidelity to mobilize collective action against the emerging Russia-China axis. It merges multiple theoretical concepts to assert that the “rules-based order” theme is insufficient for mobilizing public support. Using textual analysis of the strategy compared with publicly available polling to determine levels of popular resonance, the authors find that the “rules-based order emphasis” does not resonate. This study’s conclusions will assist practitioners as they develop an updated National Security Strategy in the new presidential administration.

Technology In International Relations: A Theoretical Perspective On Understanding Us-Chinese Tech War, Ahmed Elbassoussy

Future Journal of Social Science

The massive technological boom that the international scene has witnessed recently has contributed to rearranging the structure of the international system, as the importance of the technological factor in the equation of the relative power of the state has increased. This has led to an increase in the intensity of competition between the major international powers, especially between the United States and China, which has prompted many analysts to restore the concept of the US-China technological war, or what Known as “Cold War 2.0). In this context, this paper seeks to develop a comprehensive framework that combines the theoretical and …

Navigating Tensions: Security And Political Implications Of The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Chris J. Ortiz-Gonzalez

Honors College Theses

Initiated in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a broad foreign policy strategy designed to foster regional and global development through infrastructure investments. The initiative aims to integrate China’s growing economy with the rest of the world via land and maritime networks. A key element of the BRI is the 3,000 km China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which includes highways, railways, oil and gas pipelines, and a fiber optic network connecting Kashgar in China’s southern Xinjiang to Gwadar in Pakistan’s Balochistan. However, numerous regional and global leaders remain wary of China’s intentions, believing that the …

Investments Or Restrictions? China’S Influence On Freedom Of Expression In African Countries, Christina A. Oswalt

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Between 2001 and 2018, China’s outward foreign direct investment increased by 66.3 times, with a particular focus on resource-rich countries in Africa. While the economic impact of these investments has been widely studied, their potential impacts on democratic freedoms have been neglected. This thesis investigates how Chinese foreign direct investment affects African countries’ free speech, free press, and internet freedom. Based on case studies of Zambia, Kenya, and Ghana, this thesis finds a causal relationship between increased foreign direct investment from China and decreased freedom of expression and internet freedom in host countries. This relationship is moderated by the proportion …

Parameters Spring 2025, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Spring 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Russia, Ukraine, and NATO; Strategic Competition and Managing National Security; and Joint Sustainment Strategies), the regular Civil-Military Relations Corner installment, and a review essay.

The Rise Of China And The Concept Of Civilization: Constructing A Conceptual Apparatus For Cross-Civilizational Comparisons, Liah Greenfeld

Comparative Civilizations Review

The Rise of China and the Concept of Civilization: Constructing a Conceptual Apparatus for Cross-Civilizational Comparisons

The paper examines the deficiencies of the current understanding of “civilization” in the social science literature, among others exemplified by “civilizational analysis,” and proposes a new concept that adds to the conceptual apparatus of sociological theory — a new, fully independent of others, variant of the cultural process. This independence makes distinctions between civilizations as the root cause of socio-cultural diversity.

Combined with the idea of humanity as a culturally constituted reality sui generis, this concept allows the construction of the theoretical scaffolding …

The Rise Of Mao: Chinese Civil War And The Role Of Sub-State Actors, 1924-1949, Jackson Trahant

Tenor of Our Times

Mao Zedong led one of the most successful peasant rebellions in human history, changing the global stage of politics forever. Analysis of the 30 year war between Mao’s CCP and the Nationalist Party regime, led by Chiang Kai-shek, reveals the vital role of the Chinese peasant class as a force for revolution. Through ideological pedagogy, Mao formed a highly loyal army that in turn transformed him into a premier political figure of the 20th century, both hated and revered. His story informs the modern field of comparative politics as to how intrastate conflicts rely on sub-state actors for their success.

Empowering U.S. Allies In The Indo-Pacific: An "America First" Approach To Great Power Competition, Nathaniel Benjamin

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Indo-Pacific is the primary area for Great Power Competition between the United States and China. China’s rapid but cautious rise has allowed it to achieve a position that threatens to upset the norms and rules of the U.S.-led system in the region. The second Trump Administration has pursued an “America First” policy since taking office in January 2025, but pushing U.S. allies to take on more responsibility for their own defense will not be enough. U.S. allies are major regional players and should be trusted to uphold the principles of the current international system; therefore the U.S. must limit …

Indopacom Force Structure: A Trajectory Into The 2030s, Robert Burke

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Over the past ten years Taiwan has become a major point of friction between the United States and People’s Republic of China with both militaries preparing for a potential conflict over the island. China vastly expanded its military forces and capabilities over the past thirty years and is intent on obtaining the ability to both seize Taiwan by force and prevent the United States from generating enough combat power to intervene and defend the island. The Pentagon began to restructure its conventional forces in the Western Pacific at the end of the 2010s, implementing new operational concepts designed to fight …

The Pen Is The Sword: A Re-Examination Of Chinese “Wolf Warrior” Diplomacy, 2009-2024, Margo E. Cohen

CMC Senior Theses

During and for some period after the COVID-19 pandemic, there was considerable international recognition of the phenomenon dubbed “wolf warrior” diplomacy, where Chinese diplomats acted in an unusually unprofessional manner, often leveraging ad hominem attacks, violent rhetoric, and occasionally physical aggression to communicate specific points. In this paper, I question the fundamental assumptions that we make of “wolf warriors” – that they are young, early-career professionals that acted only during and after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic – and find instead that “wolf warriors” are often mid-career professionals. I also note that there are occurrences of “wolf warrior” diplomacy …

Diaspora Politics And A Rising China: Ambivalent Ties Amid Geopolitical Changes, Jiaqi M. Liu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Over the past decade, the rise of China on the global stage has witnessed the emergence of members of the Chinese diaspora as new meso-level actors in mediating Sino-Western relations. As part of China’s burgeoning “public diplomacy” around the globe, Chinese migrants organize cultural events to establish grassroots and semi-official exchanges between China and the West. This chapter provides a state-of-the-art examination of so-called “diasporic public diplomacy” whereby the Chinese diaspora plays an increasingly important role in promoting China’s soft power abroad. Based on long-term fieldwork in a prominent emigrant community, I analyse how Chinese national policies envision two specific …

When The Empires Strike Again: The Effects Of An Imperial Past On The Post-Cold War International Order, Begum Wolfe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Although on the surface empires appear to be ancient and irrelevant political constructs from a distant past, I argue in this dissertation that even after the empire officially dissolves, the core of the bygone empire continues its political existence in the mindsets of the empire-bearing people. This is mainly explained through certain imperial memories, glories and traumas, that have permeated into these states’ identities. In these so-called post-imperial states, then, such a unique experience of having functioned as an empire translates into foreign policy behavior that is patterned, predictable, but also puzzling especially regarding certain issues with an imperial baggage. …

U.S. - China Technological Rivalry And The Future Of International Scientific Norms, Tatum Mosley

McNair Summer Research Program

This study is investigating how technological competition between the United States and China is reshaping international norms of scientific cooperation, with a particular focus on the semiconductor and computing sectors. Drawing on constructivist international relations theory, this research evaluates changes in norms of openness, academic exchange, multilateral governance, and ethical convergence. Using sector specific case studies, it compares the current U.S. - China dynamics to Cold War era science diplomacy. The analysis highlights growing fragmentation, norm divergence, and institutional strain as the global scientific order enters an era of techno-nationalist rivalry. It also considers whether new norms are emerging in …

The Vietnam War And The Regional Context, Wen-Qing Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This chapter traces Southeast Asia’s overall pro-U.S. trajectory from before and through the American war in Vietnam, a process in which the region’s anticommunist nationalists collaborated with the United States and Britain to gain, and remain in, power. Between the late 1940s through the early 1960s, indigenous anticommunist elites in Thailand and the Philippines rose to political dominance with U.S. assistance; in Malaya and Singapore they did so with British support. The United States and Britain, with their Malayan and Singaporean allies, would influence developments within Indonesia that precipitated the Indonesian Army’s rightwing coup of 1965, a transformative event that …

(In)Visible China: Understanding Chinese Global Orders, Hassan Karrar, William A. Callahan, Carwyn Morris, Stephen Whiteman

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Where is China going? What does its alternative global order look like? We hear a lot about China’s grand projects like the Belt and Road Initiative, but how are they experienced on the ground in Africa, South America, and Asia?The Chinese Global Orders project brings together twenty-two scholars from five continents to explore these questions. As these four commentaries show, it seeks to pluralize the discussion by exploring “Chinese” beyond the PRC nation-state, “Global” as a space beyond the international, and “Orders” as a plural set of norms.The project seeks to do more than just describe Global China’s material impact, …

Parameters Winter 2024-25, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Winter 2024–25 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific, Security Cooperation, and Historical Studies), and the regular Civil-Military Relations Corner installment.