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International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
The 'Nye Report': Six Years Later
by Joseph S. Nye
Abstract
In February 1995, the US Department of Defense published United States Security Strategy for the East Asia-Pacific Region, sometimes referred to as the 'Nye Report'. It was broadly welcomed in most capitals in the region, though some critics portrayed it as 'ossified' traditionalism (Johnson and Keehn, 1995). Friends have sometimes remarked on the irony that someone so closely associated with the concept of transnational interdependence should have helped produce a report that rested heavily on Realist thinking. I reply that in my textbook Understanding International Conflicts, I tell students that Realism and Liberalism each have something to teach policymakers, depending on the circumstances (Nye, 2000, chap.1 and passim). And in 1995, American strategy toward East Asia needed a healthy dose of Realism.
The 'Nye Report': Six Years Later (PDF file)