Explaining Contemporary US Foreign Policy Decision-Making Through a Realist Theoretical Framework: The Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Pivot to Asia as Case Studies

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_49How to use a DOI?

Keywords

US foreign policy; realist theory; case study; systemic pressures; domestic politics

Abstract

This article examines contemporary US foreign policy decision-making through the lens of realist theory, focusing on two pivotal cases: the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Obama administration’s Pivot to Asia strategy. By applying neorealism to the Taiwan Strait Crisis, the analysis demonstrates how systemic pressures and structural constraints shaped US military intervention and strategic ambiguity. In contrast, the Pivot to Asia is explained through neoclassical realism, highlighting the role of domestic politics, leadership perceptions, and institutional processes in shaping strategic adjustment under systemic pressures. The comparative study reveals the strengths and limitations of both theoretical variants: neorealism’s predictive clarity versus neoclassical realism’s nuanced explanatory capacity. Ultimately, the article underscores the evolving trajectory of realist theory in international relations and its continued relevance for understanding US foreign policy formation across different historical contexts.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ronghao Xu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/07
TI  - Explaining Contemporary US Foreign Policy Decision-Making Through a Realist Theoretical Framework: The Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Pivot to Asia as Case Studies
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 12th International Conference on Digital Humanities and Frontiers in Social Sciences (DHFSS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 450
EP  - 456
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_49
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_49
ID  - Xu2026
ER  -