从走近到疏远:美国与萨达姆政权的交易型代理关系困境(1979-1991)

From Proximity to Alienation:Dilemma of Principal-Agent Relationship Built on the Trade Space between the United States and Saddam Hussein􀆳s Regime(1979-1991)

本文从交易空间视角,分析了20世纪80年代至90年代初美国与伊拉克曾存在短暂的赞助-代理关系。关于美国和萨达姆政权的交易型代理关系破裂乃至失控的原因,学界主要从利益分化、能源安全和制裁的视角展开论述。但上述视角均侧重“美国中心论”,没有足够重视萨达姆政权在赞助-代理关系中扮演的能动性角色。70年代至80年代初,苏伊关系的恶化和伊朗伊斯兰革命的扩张,为美国和伊拉克发展交易空间提供了基础,美伊关系由此经历了一段微妙的升温期。里根政府改变前任的中立政策,加大对伊拉克的经济、军事和外交等多方位援助,萨达姆政权则借机抬升其地区权势、开拓西方能源市场和购买先进武器。80年代中期至末期,尽管美国逐渐回调倾斜政策,但力度和决心不够,萨达姆政权则反向滥用美国的赞助,包括镇压异己和公然违反国际法使用化武,与美国的矛盾凸显。90年代前后,美苏关系改善,而美伊利益冲突已然难以调和,萨达姆政权强烈抵制融入美国中东新秩序的构想,引发美国对伊拉克惩罚升级。最终,萨达姆政权冒险入侵科威特,美伊交易空间彻底垮塌,双方的赞助-代理关系破裂。

This article analyzes the principal-agency relationship between the United States and Saddam regime of Iraq from the 1980s to the early 1990s via the perspective of trade space.Accounting for this failing relationship,experts and scholars mostly came out with explanations from three perspectives:interest differentiation,energy security and sanction.However,these perspectives were all theoretically“America-centric”and not paying enough attention to the dynamic role played by the Saddam􀆳s regime in the relationship.From the 1970s to the early 1980s,the deterioration of Soviet-Iraqi relations and the expansion of Iran􀆳s Islamic Revolution provided the basis for the United States and Iraq to develop trade.As a result,U.S.-Iraqi relations experienced a subtle period of warming up.The Reagan administration changed its predecessor􀆳s neutrality policy and increased its economic,military and diplomatic assistance to Iraq,while the Saddam􀆳s government had taken that opportunity to enhance its regional power,expand shares in the Western energy markets as well as purchase more advanced weapons.From the mid-1980s to the late 1980s,although the United States gradually withdrew its tilted policies,the intensity and determination were not enough then.Meanwhile,the Saddam Hussein􀆳s regime abused U.S.sponsorship in reverse,namely suppressing dissidents and using chemical weapons in blatant violation of international law.Its contradiction with the United States became prominent.Then around the 1990s,relations between the United States and the Soviet Union improved,while the conflict of interests between the U.S.and Iraq became difficult to reconcile.Saddam􀆳s Iraq strongly resisted the idea of integrat⁃ing into the new Middle East order planned by the United States,triggering an escalation of U.S.punishments.In the end,the regime of Saddam took the risk of invading Kuwait,destroyed the U.S.-Iraqi trading space completely so as their principal-agent relationship.