The United States–South Korea Alliance

Scott A. Snyder is senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.–Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers (Columbia, 2018), coauthor of The Japan–South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States (Columbia, 2015), and coeditor of North Korean Foreign Policy: The Kim Jong-Un Regime in a Hostile World (2023).

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsPart I. The U.S.–South Korean Alliance Under Trump and Moon and South Korean Domestic Challenges1. The Threat to the U.S.–South Korea Alliance from Within2. The Influence of the Trump and Moon Administrations on U.S.–South Korean Alliance Management3. Political Polarization Under the Moon Jae-in Administration4. South Korean Progressive Foreign Policy and Tensions in the U.S.–South Korea AlliancePart II. External Threats to the Alliance5. North Korean Infiltration and Influence Operations6. South Korea’s Orientation and China’s Rise7. U.S.–China Technology Competition vs. China–South Korea Economic InterdependencePart III. Credibility of American Alliance Commitments and the Implications of Alliance Breakdown8. The Credibility of the American Alliance Commitment9. Imagining U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Asia Absent the U.S.–South Korea Alliance10. Imagining South Korean Foreign Policy Absent the U.S.–South Korea Alliance11. Sustaining U.S.–South Korea Alliance Contributions to International SecurityNotesIndex

Scott A. Snyder’s book is a bracing reminder that a U.S.–South Korea alliance cannot be taken for granted. Especially timely is Snyder’s detailed discussion of the effect of political polarization, populism, and nationalism in both countries on the future of the alliance. He makes a convincing case for why the alliance continues to matter, more than ever, and how to ensure its vitality going forward.