Strong-State Restraint as a Legitimation Strategy: Evidence from the South China Sea

IF 1.7 2区社会学 Q2 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Foreign Policy Analysis Pub Date : 2023-01-20 DOI:10.1093/fpa/orad007

Chin-Hao Huang

引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article argues that strong-state restraint is more likely to occur when lesser powers articulate their security preferences with a strong consensus. Why? Adherence to the consensus clarifies the dominant state's cooperative intentions, institutionalizes defensive military postures to mitigate security dilemma, and provides the concomitant benefit of recognition as a credible leader. If external validation matters in identity formation, then the acceptance of strong group consensus becomes an incentivizing legitimation strategy. This observation is evident in the interactions and authority relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the South China Sea. ASEAN members’ ability to develop security norms aimed at defusing tension shows that they are not as vulnerable as many believe. The finding draws on empirical evidence to show how small states induce change in a large power's behavior, and thus a positive theoretical advance with a testable argument about the causes for strong-state restraint.

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作为合法化战略的国家强力约束——来自南中国海的证据

本文认为，当较小的国家以强烈的共识阐明其安全偏好时，强国家约束更有可能发生。为什么?对共识的坚持澄清了主导国的合作意图，使防御性军事姿态制度化，以缓解安全困境，并提供了作为一个可信的领导者被认可的附带好处。如果外部验证在身份形成中很重要，那么接受强烈的群体共识就成为一种激励的合法化策略。这一点在中国与东盟在南海的互动和权威关系中体现得很明显。东盟成员国制定旨在缓和紧张局势的安全规范的能力表明，它们并不像许多人认为的那样脆弱。这一发现利用了经验证据，展示了小国如何引发大国行为的变化，因此，这是一个积极的理论进步，为强国家约束的原因提供了一个可检验的论点。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Foreign Policy Analysis INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

9.10%

发文量

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