Duterte's transactionalist foreign policy and the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines

Candelaria John Lee

Talamayan Fernan

Asian Politics and Policy

This article contributes a new layer to the existing analyses of Duterte's foreign policy by arguing that he epitomized a transactionalist approach to Philippine foreign policy. This approach favored bilateral to multilateral relations, focused on short-term wins rather than long-term foresight, adhered to a zero-sum worldview, rejected value-based policymaking, and did not follow a grand strategy. Most of these qualities have been apparent in Duterte's relationship with China, Russia, and the United States but became even more prominent during the COVID-19 crisis. The analysis revealed that Duterte's transactionalist foreign policy rhymed with his domestic politics, and his obsession with winning now resulted in contradictions in his foreign policy, indicating a lack of a grand strategy that informed his decision-making. This article contributes a real-world case of a transactionalist foreign policy while considering whether it would persist in future policymaking in the Philippines.

Duterte

transactionalism

foreign policy

COVID-19

Philippines

populism

杜特尔特

交易主义

外交政策

2019冠状病毒病

菲律宾

Duterte

transaccionalismo

política exterior

COVID-19

Filipinas

英語

Wiley

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Candelaria, J. L., & Talamayan, F. (2024). Duterte's transactionalist foreign policy and the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines. Asian Politics and Policy, 16(1), 113–129, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/aspp.12730. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.

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[DOI] https://doi.org/10.1111/aspp.12730 ～の異版である