Asian Arguments. London: Zed Books; The University of Chicago Press [distributor], 2017. xiv, 370 pp. US$26.95, paper. ISBN 978-1-78360-869-0.
With China undeniably in the role of rising superpower, how Thailand chooses to position itself is open to debate. To answer this question, Benjamin Zawacki’s Thailand: Shifting Ground between the US and a Rising China illustrates changes in Thailand’s relationship with the US and China over the course of history using a descriptive approach.
In brief, Thailand: Shifting Ground between the US and a Rising China examines Thai foreign policy toward the United States since World War II. As a key US ally in Southeast Asia, Thailand has been the recipient of military, security, and economic assistance from the United States, thus enabling the US to play a crucial role in Thai politics. However, with America’s declining role in the region, Thailand’s relations with China have shifted in a new direction in the twenty-first century. This significant change can be seen in the recent coup and internal political conflicts, through which Thailand and China have forged a closer relationship. Therefore, Zawacki suggests that the US should assume its responsibility and global leadership and prevent China’s growing influence, especially in regions significant to Chinese geopolitical strategy. In this sense, Thailand might serve as a lesson to illustrate shifting policies toward global powers, as well as the implications of internal politics for international affairs as US-China rivalry is escalating.
Despite being an enjoyable and up-to-date study of Thai foreign policy, one fundamental problem of the book is that it places more emphasis on Thailand-US relations than on the development of Sino-Thai relations, which are only briefly mentioned. This unbalanced treatment affects the book as a whole. First, the book is divided into two parts based on the author’s own interpretation of Thai foreign policy during the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, presenting it as a turning point of Thailand’s closer move toward China. This arguably reflects the importance of who made the foreign policy rather than what Thai foreign policy was about. Having worked in Thailand for decades, the author has understandably established good connections with Thai and American elites, then gained insights into such ties through these people. This has led the author to make extensive use of sources and documentation from the American perspective, especially the problematic WikiLeaks. However, this knowledge is insufficient to explain the dynamics of a relationship that involves other countries, including China. For instance, one crucial factor in the turning point of Thailand’s relationship with the US in the late 1970s was the affirmative role of China during the Cambodian Crisis in assuring regional security. This substantive event was completely left out of the author’s analysis. According to Thai and Chinese sources, this event in fact signified a promising shift towards a closer relationship between Bangkok and Beijing.
Moreover, Thailand is not in an exceptional position—the question of whether China’s rise will be a threat depends on different factors within each country, but all countries must grapple with this reality. In Asia, the battles waged between the US and China have long been discussed. It is not just American interests and strategies that have influenced relationship dynamics in this region. In fact, it is also the host country’s decision to interact with superpowers in line with its national interests. Adopting an American-centric view, the author hardly considers the host country’s priorities, which play a decisive role. This dynamic is illustrated in the case of the South China Sea dispute, which Zawacki describes at some length. For Thailand, this is not an issue that directly affects the national interest, and therefore Bangkok has remained passive rather than meddling with the conflict, though it has occasionally played a constructive role in ASEAN.
Another important question is, given China’s strategy of placing neighbouring countries as the top priority in its foreign policy, how much does the US know about what China did, does, and is doing with American allies in the region? In this sense, Thailand: Shifting Ground between the US and a Rising China is an example that demonstrates America’s lack of understanding of this very question. Although the author pays attention to the crucial roles of Bangkok and Beijing in shaping Sino-Thai relations (e.g., conglomerate and network monarchy), it should be noted that Chinese foreign policy perspectives (which emphasize bilateral relations) are important to examine the development of that relationship. This includes how China sets normative principles with Southeast Asian countries, and what kind of political, economic, and diplomatic mechanisms it uses in light of their shared history and expectations. With the scrutiny and skepticism of China at the global level, on what grounds might Thailand consider joining China’s geopolitical orbit, besides the Thai junta government’s drastic need for recognition? The question, as presented by the book’s title, of how the “shifting ground” of US-China relations will affect Thai foreign policy is a challenging one.
In addition to his unbalanced account of Thailand-US and Sino-Thai relations, Zawacki presents no clearly laid out conceptual framework, thus making the book far more descriptive than analytical. Zawacki does, however, offer an undeniable amount of detail. The language is clearly propagandistic, harkening to a Cold War mindset in which American policy makers must be reminded of the US duty to save the world from communism, particularly communist China. The following quote reflects that sentiment: “For the sake of American’s geopolitics interests—all of them—there is no choice. We must” (314).
Overall, this book may serve as an informative background on Thai-US relations for readers interested in this subject. It is also useful for Chinese readers to understand American foreign policy. Fortunately, the Chinese translation of this work was made available in September 2019 from a publisher in Taiwan. More reviews from the Chinese perspective can be expected, which will contribute to the fruitful dialogue sparked by this book.
Kornphanat Tungkeunkunt
Thammasat University, Bangkok