Effect of Securitization on militarization and defence policies through the case study of the South China Sea Dispute

Securitization is considered as both a widely powerful explanatory theory on critical security studies and a widely contested framework. The small amount of research on the actual concrete consequences of this theory on security matters pushed for this study. This thesis aims at analysing the effect of successful securitization on the defence and militarization policies of a nation. To do so, the case study of the South China Sea dispute will be analysed through three different claimant countries. The study uses the covariational method of analysis to find the relationship between securitization and the defence policies. This method of analysis led us to choose 3 claimant countries which are Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia due to their respective differences in securitizing the South China Sea dispute while having the lowest differences in the control variables. The different level of securitization will be analysed through a speech analysis of local media articles which reflects the government’s position and speeches. The effect on the defence policies will be analysed through a triangulation of primary and secondary sources such as speeches, articles and official government policy papers. The speech analysis combined with the covariational analysis revealed the correlation between higher securitization and higher militarization policies accompanied by a higher defence budget as expected. This relationship seems to be accentuated or attenuated through the different regime types that a nation belongs to ranging from authoritarian to democratic. The findings enabled for a better comprehension of possible correlation between securitization and defence. This is a first step into knowing more about the effect of securitization in other policy areas.