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Asia's middle powers face a trilateral dilemma stemming from their relationships with the U.S. and China. This paper uses the Australian example to examine the dilemma. It shows that Australia has bound itself to the U.S. because of domestic political factors, cost considerations, a belief that it can keep its interests separate, and its perception of regional threats. The paper then argues that others are likely to resolve their trilateral dilemmas in ways that make the regional strategic dynamic more competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes China's impact on Australia-U.S. relations from 1949 to 1996, including how far Australia's China policy followed the American lead. The conclusion: American influence was dominant, but Australia's own initiative was enough to belie the suggestion that it was no more than a blind follower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the social and political aspects in awarding the Chinese immigrant Toy Len Goon the Maine Mother of the Year and the American Mother of the Year awards in 1952. The social conditions of Chinese Americans during the Korean War, including the discrimination they faced in employment, from U.S. federal agents and the U.S. public, are discussed. The relationship between the U.S. strategy of containment during the Cold War and the selection of a Chinese American for a national award to promote racial integration is also discussed.

The article discusses the U.S. military's engagement with maintaining security in Taiwan and its evaluation of a possible Taiwan Strait crisis. Topics include how the U.S. became committed to resisting changes to Taiwan through the "Taiwan Relations Act" of 1979 and how U.S. military assessments consider the potential use of force by the People's Republic of China (PRC) against Taiwan. Additional information is presented on how the PRC will likely not attack if it believes it cannot deter the U.S. from defending Taiwan.

Within international relations theory, there is significant disagreement on the nature and significance of leaders' dispute outcome preferences. While many variants of realism assume that such preferences are relatively fixed and homogeneous, both the liberal and the constructivist schools view them as significant variables. This debate remains unresolved because, for the standard large-sample conflict data sets, there are no direct measures of leadership preferences over outcomes in given types of international disputes. Using a conflict bargaining experiment, we ask whether, after controlling for the effects of relative power and initial conditions, leadership preferences have a statistically significant impact. We use two different country samples--from China and the United States--to examine whether the impact of leadership preferences varies internationally. We find that realist-style preferences are a special rather than a general case, and that such differences have significant implications for understanding continuities and changes in Chinese and US foreign policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In responding to China's rise, the best strategy for Australia involves a combination of accommodation and "soft balancing.'' The viability of this strategy is related to the extent to which U.S.-China relations are cooperative or conflictual. Recent Australian governments have been successful in implementing this preferred strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the important role of the predictions of the Dual Threats Model comprising the U.S. military response and the stability of North Korea on China's effort in formulating its response to North Korea's nuclear weapons provocations. It states that China's effort to prevent military conflicts on the Korean Peninsula is vital because peace and security in the region is important to ensure the country's continued economic growth. It mentions that the prospect of bolstered U.S. military activity cannot guarantee the country's support in confronting North Korea's misbehavior, because the fear of the instability in North Korea compels Beijing to refrain from exerting pressure on its troublesome fragile ally.