Análise documental da presença da Península Coreana na Grande Estratégia dos Estados Unidos no Pós-Guerra Fria

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation was to understand the relevance of the Korean peninsula in the grand strategy of the United States during the period between 1990 and 2020, the moment right after the end of the Soviet Union, then the main threat to the USA in the international system. To this end, we chose to carry out a content analysis of the US government's National Security Strategy reports from this period, seeking evidence of the grand strategy and of the importance of the Koreas in this strategic vision. Considering the new situation of unipolarity in the international system, we expected to find a situation of engagement that resembled the grand strategy of liberal hegemony according to G. John Ikenberry, with the USA participating in the international system in an unrestricted manner. Thus, the position of the Korean peninsula would be of high relevance, since this grand strategy values effective engagement with traditional allies, including South Korea, and the suppression of non-democratic and non-liberal regimes such as North Korea. However, contrary to expectations, we found that the grand strategy of the period did not correspond to liberal hegemony in most national security strategies, as it was observed that administrations weighed the national security interest and the costs of engagement, which resulted in restrict defense policies than advocated by this grand strategy. Furthermore, the importance given to the Korean peninsula did not continue to grow over the period, it varied over the period as the Korean issue became more or less relevant.