The security predicament of a new state: Philippine policy toward Japan, 1946-1956

The article examines postwar Philippine-Japan relations by using Mohammed Ayoob\u27s theory of subaltern realism. Subaltern realism posits that Third World state behavior is largely influenced in its security predicament by the twin pressures of late state-making and late entry into the system of states. Applying this paradigm to the postwar Philippine situation explains why the Philippines behaved as it did in the postwar international system. This article offers a new approach to the study of postwar Philippine-Japan relations by focusing on security and state-building factors, systemic as well as unit variables, as the primary determinants of Philippine foreign and domestic policy. © 2012 Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA)