The Dilemma of Moral Aspirations:The Carter Administration's Policy on Military Bases in the Philippines
During the Carter administration,negotiations over military bases in the Philippines emerged as a critical issue that significantly impacted US-Philippines relations in the post-Vietnam War era.This issue also became a litmus test for the efficacy of US human rights diplomacy.The Carter administration sought to leverage human rights concerns to compel the Philippines,which was often presented as a"showcase of democracy",to improve its domestic political environment.However,these efforts were constrained by the entanglement of negotiations over military bases and traditional security interests in Southeast Asia.The inherent contradiction between the human rights agenda and military security objectives led to wavering policies within the Carter administration regarding the base negotiations.By the late 1970s,as geopolitical pressures stemming from events like the Sino-Vietnamese alliance and the Cambo-dian-Vietnamese War intensified,the prioritization of human rights over military security objectives began to diminish within the US government.After undergoing internal government debates centered on human rights principles and engaging in political maneuvering with Congress,the Carter administration essentially reverted to a traditional security-oriented policy towards the Philippines.The Cart-er administration attempted to redefine US foreign policy through human rights diplomacy,but it struggled to reconcile the moral aspi-rations of such diplomacy with the imperatives of traditional Cold War interests in its relationship with the Philippines.
Carter administrationhuman rights diplomacymilitary basesUS-Philippines relations
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