The relationship between U.S. military spending and the cohesion of the ROK-U.S. alliance

The ROK-U.S. alliance is facing a new security circumstance due to the rise of China and the deepening nuclear ambition of the DPRK, along with U.S. military spending reduction by the sequestration. The research question of this thesis is this: How has U.S. military spending affected the cohesion of the ROK-U.S. alliance since 1953? No studies have researched the cohesion of the ROK-U.S. alliance through robust empirical analysis. To answer this question empirically, this thesis examines three indicators for measuring the cohesion of the ROK-U.S. alliance: institutionalization, capacity of the USFK, and the ROK-U.S. combined exercises. In addition, this thesis analyzes three categories of the U.S. military spending to determine whether a certain relation exists between the cohesion of the ROK-U.S. alliance and U.S. military spending. Through empirical analysis, this thesis concludes that there is no certain relationship between the cohesion of the ROK-U.S. alliance and U.S. military spending. Comparing two variables, the cohesion of the ROK-U.S. alliance and U.S. military spending, this thesis found a striking difference between the Cold War and the Post-Cold War. Based on the variable findings, this thesis explores the implications for future tasks for the ROK-U.S. alliance under new security circumstances.http://archive.org/details/therelationshipb1094551557Major, Republic of Korea Air ForceApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited