The Korean War

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that defensive realism is an umbrella term for several theories of international politics and foreign policy, which suggests that security is the primary interest of most states. Yet, when one state takes action to increase its perceived security, this action generally serves to decrease the perceived security of other competing states. The author points out that the reason the United States decided to intervene in what would have otherwise been a localized civil war was precisely because of the supposed involvement of Russia in North Korea's movements. The paper states that, if America had not appeared to be the aggressor, but had stuck strictly to a moderate course that communicated restraint, then it might never have had to face the massive forces of China. However, throughout the war, America seemed to act in an unrestrained fashion.

From the Paper:

"Once America got involved, it quickly restored the status quo and pushed the North Korean army back to the 38th parallel. However, General MacAuthor decided to "finish" the war by pushing farther into North Korea to assure the destruction of the North Korean military force. As America pushed its armies into what had originally been North Korean territory, it lost some of its ability to pass as a police action against an aggressive state and began to look like a direct assault on the communist bloc. This was certainly how it appeared to China as the American troops began marching on her borders. Chinese security interests demanded that North Korea serve as some kind of buffer between American forces in South Korea and the Chinese border, and also that American forces not be allowed on Chinese soil. So, as defensive realism would expect, China began to send forces to meet and engage American troops."

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