21/01/2013
The foundation of national strategy is the national interest, that could be the strategic starting point and its ultimate end. The judgment of national interest is the basis of national strategic decision-making, which determines national strategic orientation and direction of strategic actions.[1]
For the countries surrounding the South China Sea, the South China Sea issues are directly related to their national interest. Their evaluation of the South China Sea issues’ position in their national interest will influence their strategic orientation and strategic actions they might take. From the perspective of grand strategy, the South China Sea issues are just a part of the claimant countries’ national interest framework. Therefore, only by reasonably and properly defining the position of South China Sea issues in the national strategic system can these countries make rational strategic decisions. Otherwise, they may overestimate the position of South China Sea in their national interest, or may be so short-sighted in their orientation that they might ignore their long-term national interest. If so, these claimant countries may make strategic mistakes. This paper will analyze the position of South China Sea in the national interest framework, and the claimant countries’ strategic choice and their correlation, will try to find the reasonable position of the South China Sea issues, and will illustrate the claimant countries’ rational strategic choice, so as to explain the trend of development of the relationship between countries around the South China Sea.
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[1]Condoleezza Rice “Rethinking the National Interest: American Realism for a New World “, Foreign Affairs,
July/August 2008.
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