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ROK‐U.S. Military Cooperation in the Post‐9/11 Era: Challenges and Paradigms in the Age of Terrorism
Author(s) -
Bechtol Bruce E.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
pacific focus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.172
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1976-5118
pISSN - 1225-4657
DOI - 10.1111/j.1976-5118.2007.tb00296.x
Subject(s) - alliance , political science , terrorism , state (computer science) , political economy , national security , presidential system , war on terror , foreign policy , interoperability , work (physics) , development economics , law , sociology , politics , economics , engineering , mechanical engineering , algorithm , operating system , computer science
Since the beginning of the Global War on Terror, and largely because of it, Washington and Seoul have viewed their most important security challenges in the region through different prisms. While the leaders in South Korea have sometimes made an effort to help these interests converge (and sometimes not), this has had repercussions as their military forces continue to make an effort to work together in an alliance where the infrastructure and interoperability of forces will change drastically in 2012 and beyond. Much of the problem has been exacerbated because of a radically different view regarding the threat from North Korea and the policy that must be taken to deal with its often rogue‐state behavior. An analysis of potential new governments for both nations reveals a potential for continued disagreement and difficulties in both the policy regarding North Korea and the changing structure of the ROK‐U.S. military alliance. The electorates in the United States and South Korea have already begun the process of picking their next presidential candidates, and in both countries this has the potential for leadership that will want a substantially different role for the military and for military alliances that protect their national interests.