JEAIL > Volume 8(2); 2015 > Issue Focus
Research Paper
Published online: November 30, 2015
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2015.8.2.02

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as a US Strategic Alliance Initiative under the G2 System: Legal and Political Implications

Eric Yong Joong Lee
Dongguk University College of Law
562 Gwangnaruro, Kwangjin-gu #201 Seoul 143-821 Korea
Corresponding Author: grotian@hotmail.com

ⓒ Copyright YIJUN Institute of International Law
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

"The rise of China" is a critical issue of the twenty-first century's world politics. China is leading the new bipolar system in the post-Cold War period with the US. As the American dominance in East Asia became weaker, the old containment could not be fully implemented anymore. As a result, a new comprehensive strategic initiative covering the whole Pacific coastal States is being adopted. The outcome of this transformation is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was reached on October 5, 2015. This article aims to analyze the newly arisen TPP as a post-Cold War strategic alliance of East Asia. The TPP is a mega regional trade agreement. Its predictable legal setting is thus indispensable for the peaceful coordination of competition between both sides. The TPP could be a firm ground for the stability of this region, sharing the vision of cooperation, not confrontation in the future.

Keywords : TPP, Containment, New Bipolar System, China, Mutual Defense Treaty, Pivot to Asia, One Belt, One Road Initiative, RCEP

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