Beyond Borders: Towards a Security Community between North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Asia Pacific Countries under the Rise of China.- A case study of the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.

China has emerged as a new rising power with the largest Navy force and the second-biggest economy in the world. A regional collective defense security organization, NATO, has expanded its global partnership to the Asia-Pacific region. This thesis seeks to research the impact of the military rise of China on NATO-led security cooperation among NATO and far yet like-minded countries. Comparative qualitative content analysis is conducted to elaborate on how the security implications of the rise of China engendered NATO to form global initiatives, analyzing two cases, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. Theoretical expectations are based on Regional Security Complex Theory, which is anchored on constructivism: if NATO successfully securitizes China's rise, the ROK and NZ will create bilateral or multilateral security cooperation with NATO. This paper finds out that NATO successfully framed China as an identity and a military threat, and expanded security cooperation with the ROK...Show moreChina has emerged as a new rising power with the largest Navy force and the second-biggest economy in the world. A regional collective defense security organization, NATO, has expanded its global partnership to the Asia-Pacific region. This thesis seeks to research the impact of the military rise of China on NATO-led security cooperation among NATO and far yet like-minded countries. Comparative qualitative content analysis is conducted to elaborate on how the security implications of the rise of China engendered NATO to form global initiatives, analyzing two cases, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. Theoretical expectations are based on Regional Security Complex Theory, which is anchored on constructivism: if NATO successfully securitizes China's rise, the ROK and NZ will create bilateral or multilateral security cooperation with NATO. This paper finds out that NATO successfully framed China as an identity and a military threat, and expanded security cooperation with the ROK and NZ based on common liberal norms and values.Show less

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Beyond Borders: Towards a Security Community between North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Asia Pacific Countries under the Rise of China.- A case study of the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.