Against the backdrop of China's mounting influence and North Korea's growing nuclear capability, South Korea is a rising middle power and faces a set of strategic choices that will shape its economic prospects and national security. Snyder examines fifty years of South Korean foreign policy and recommends balancing autonomy with a robust alliance with the United States.

"A Council on Foreign Relations book."

South Korean strategic choices -- Strategic choices under authoritarian rule -- Roh Tae-Woo and Kim Young-Sam : Nordpolitik and democratization -- Kim Dae-Jung and the sunshine policy -- Roh Moo-Hyun's balancer policy -- Lee Myung-Bak's global Korea policy -- Park Geun-Hye's Asian paradox -- The paradox of South Korea's middle-power status -- Korea between the United States and China -- Unification and Korean strategic choices -- Epilogue : South Korean strategic choices and the U.S.-South Korea alliance -- Select source documents. Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea, 1953 -- Joint statement of North and South, 1972 -- Inter-Korean agreement on reconciliation, non-aggression, and exchanges and cooperation between South and North Korea, 1991 -- South-North joint declaration, 2000 -- Declaration on the advancement of South-North Korean relations, peace, and prosperity, 2007 -- Joint vision for the alliance of the United States of America and the Republic of Korea, 2009 -- Joint declaration in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America, 2013 -- Chronology of important events in South Korean strategic history.