Paper Tiger: The Enemy Image of America

IF 1.5 3区社会学 Q2 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Survival Pub Date : 2023-05-04 DOI:10.1080/00396338.2023.2218695

Barak Mendelsohn, Dominic Tierney

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract For almost a century, enemies have tended to see the United States as a ‘paper tiger’ that is materially strong but also beatable in war because Americans have no stomach for the fight. Adversaries recognise US industrial and technological might but conclude that because the American public is casualty averse and US soldiers have weak morale, they can overcome the Americans with a long-war strategy. Four factors are likely to play a role in encouraging states to view the US in this way: rhetoric, rationalism, psychology and ideology. The paper-tiger image is significant because it can influence both the enemy’s decision to fight and its strategy, and offers insights into emerging threats, including that from China.

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纸老虎:美国的敌人形象

近一个世纪以来，敌人往往把美国视为一只“纸老虎”，即物质上强大，但在战争中也可以被打败，因为美国人没有战斗的胃口。对手认识到美国的工业和技术实力，但得出的结论是，由于美国公众厌恶伤亡，美国士兵士气低落，他们可以用长期战争战略战胜美国人。在促使各国以这种方式看待美国方面，可能有四个因素在发挥作用:修辞、理性主义、心理和意识形态。纸老虎的形象意义重大，因为它可以影响敌人的战斗决定和战略，并提供对新出现的威胁的洞察，包括来自中国的威胁。

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

Survival Multiple-

CiteScore

2.10

自引率

16.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： Survival, the Institute"s bi-monthly journal, is a leading forum for analysis and debate of international and strategic affairs. With a diverse range of authors, thoughtful reviews and review essays, Survival is scholarly in depth while vivid, well-written and policy-relevant in approach. Shaped by its editors to be both timely and forward-thinking, the journal encourages writers to challenge conventional wisdom and bring fresh, often controversial, perspectives to bear on the strategic issues of the moment. Survival is essential reading for practitioners, analysts, teachers and followers of international affairs. Each issue also contains Book Reviews of the most important recent publications on international politics and security.