Strengthening the US–Philippine Alliance

Abstract

How should the Philippines and the United States reconfigure their alliance to face the changing security challenges of the 21st century? This question of “alliance management” brings forth the challenge of how to maintain an alliance after the initial security threat that prompted its creation has been overcome, and the alliance’s underlying rationale cancelled. Alliance durability is the result of a number of factors. These include, for instance, a reformulation of threat perceptions as well as a process of institutionalization. In order to ascertain the viability of an alliance, such as that between the US and the Philippines, it is vital to understand how these factors have been operating.