Semester
Fall
Date of Graduation
2005
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Political Science
Committee Chair
Joe D Hagan
Committee Co-Chair
Hong N Kim
Abstract
This study compared and evaluated the conduct of US policies towards North Korea in order to address the North Korean nuclear threat under the Clinton (1993--2000) and the Bush (2001--2004) administrations. The capabilities of the two administrations to carry out their preferred policies toward the global threat were evaluated in view of the systemic and domestic constraints that they faced. Domestic constraints identified were the US Congress, American political culture and public opinion and bureaucratic problems. Systemic constraints were the lack of coordination and differences in policy frameworks of South Korea, Japan, China and Russia, and the difficulty of dealing with the Kim regime. These systemic and domestic constraints were deemed by this study as the primary factors in their inclination towards the middle ground in dealing with North Korea hence, becoming similar.;Three major areas were examined: (1) Clinton and Bush administrations' original policy position towards North Korea in terms of the use of bilateralism and multilateralism, carrots and sticks, and the inclusion/exclusion of the international regimes; (2) identification of the systemic and domestic constraints that affected the full implementation of the policies as originally proposed by the Clinton and Bush administrations; and (3) the extent to which Clinton and Bush had to adjust policies towards North Korea in terms of the use of bilateralism and multilateralism, carrots and sticks, and the inclusion/exclusion of the international regimes at the end of their term.;Using a structured focused comparison, this study predicts that, due to the domestic and systemic factors, the Bush administration is inclined to use the carrot strategies, and the exclusion of the international regime as employed in the Clinton administration, but is likely to employ bi-multilateral approach.
Recommended Citation
Kim, Gunsik, "Clinton and Bush administrations' nuclear non-proliferation *policies on North Korea: Challenges and implications of systemic and domestic constraints" (2005). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 4162.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/4162