THE CHANGING OF THE UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS THE EAST ASIA SUMMIT (EAS): US DECISION TO JOIN EAS

Abstract

The change of US government administration from Bush to Obama has showed huge consequence for the US foreign policy toward the East Asia Summit (EAS). The US foreign policy strategy in Asia Pacific was significantly changed when Obama started the government. While the Bush administration did not interest to join EAS, the Obama administration showed serious interest to join EAS. There are several factors that influenced the changing of the US foreign policy under Obama. Therefore this thesis would like to analyze the factors that influenced the decision of the US government under Obama to join EAS. It would be researched through qualitative methodology. In Addition, it will be supported by the foreign policy theory to analyze the case. Finally, this thesis finds that US rebalance policy toward Asia, nuclear non-proliferation issue, energy cooperation, maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and health are the factors that influenced the Obama administration.