Earlier this year, U.S.-Philippines strategic cooperation appeared to be making progress towards increasing joint naval patrols, basing more U.S. troops in the Philippines, and military aid….Once Filipino President Benigno Aquino passed the torch to Duterte on June 30th of this year, many believed he would maintain if not build on the work of his predecessor.
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Philippines’ Duterte Leaves U.S. Policymakers “Baffled”
Posted October 25th, 2016 at 9:42 am (UTC-5)
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Duterte’s Flip-Flop into Bed with China Is a Disaster for the United States
Posted October 21st, 2016 at 2:26 pm (UTC-5)
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The Philippines has seen a vertigo-inducing change in its foreign-policy orientation since Rodrigo Duterte became president this summer. This crude populist is now transforming the Philippines’ relationship with the United States in a fundamental and worrying manner.
The Philippines Is About to Give Up the South China Sea to China
Posted October 17th, 2016 at 12:42 pm (UTC-5)
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Were Aquino’s anointed successor Mar Roxas currently president of the Philippines, it’s likely the nation would now be rallying international diplomatic pressure against China…Instead Duterte, after years of the Philippines building its legal argument and winning, appears set to essentially reverse course and give China Scarborough Shoal after all.
China’s Military Aggression Means the U.S.-Philippines Relationship Will Survive Despite Duterte’s Slurs
Posted September 8th, 2016 at 11:21 am (UTC-5)
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Despite the friction, an increasingly assertive China cements the underlying relationship between the two nations….Faced with such aggression, Manila recently agreed to welcome back US forces, giving them access to a handful of Filipino military bases…
Is the Philippines Triggering a ‘Duterte Effect’ in ASEAN?
[S]uggesting that Duterte’s embrace of China and snubbing of the United States might trigger some sort of domino effect in the region not only fundamentally misunderstands what drives alignments in Southeast Asia, but grossly exaggerates the Philippines’ status within the region and overestimates Duterte’s foreign policy.