フィリピンの軍事戦略的重要性の変化と一九四七年米比軍事基地協定の成立過程

抄録

Until their complete withdrawal from the Philippines in 1992, the U. S. forces have been regarded as a symbol of America's continued domination in its former colony. Similarly, the U. S. -Philippine Military Bases Agreement of 1947, which legitimized America's use of Philippine bases after decolonization, has been generally considered as one of the conditions that the exsuzerain state compelled its ex-colony to accept in return for granting independence.
Such interpretations are based on the fact that the United States did maintain its military presence in the Philippines (which certainly had been a major factor of their “special relationship” in the colonial period), and that the stipulations of the agreement became a target of intensified Filipino nationalism after independence. By exploring the U. S. policymaking process with regard to the Philippines and Philippine bases during the immediate postwar years, however, one should have a different view.
When the United States decided in the 1930's to decolonize the Philippines, it was regarded as a burden from a military point of view, a vulnerable defense zone in case of war in the Pacific. The United States altered its policy during the Pacific war, having been unable to prevent the Japanese occupation of the Philippine Islands. It came to militarily commit itself to its former colony: defense as well as the strategic use of the Philippines. However, as wartime policies and situations were gradually dissolved, the United States again found the defense of the Philippines a burden, militarily as well as financially. As a result, the U. S. policymakers decided by the fall of 1946 to withdraw all Army units and retain only a few naval bases in the Philippines, and excluded them from America's postwar Pacific strategic base system.
The U. S. -Philippine Bases Agreement of 1947 granted the United States the right to use Philippine bases. Both Army and Navy bases were retained, requested by the Philippine government, who strongly desired the presence of the U. S. forces as a security measure. The stipulations were the product of bilateral agreement, in which the United States made considerable concessions compared to its early drafts. It cannot be denied that these conditions were still unequal, reflecting the unequal partnership of the two nations. But it must be also noticed that the United States did not have neocolonialistic intentions when they signed the agreement, and that there was certainly a possibility for them to dissolve their colonial military bondage. The United States did attempt to minimize its military commitment to the Philippines.
The intensification of the cold war from approximately 1949 on changed the attitude of the United States. The strategic importance of the Philippines resided not in itself, but it was indeed subject to the situation of world politics.