均势为何难以生成?——从结构变迁的视角解释制衡难题

Why is it Difficult to Generate a Balance of Power?——An Explanation of the Balancing Puzzle from the Perspective of Structural Change

冷战结束之后,美国成为国际体系中最强大的国家,其他的大国难以对其进行有效的制衡,这一现实变化引起了国际关系理论中有关均势理论的争论。当前有关这一理论的批判、修正以及辩护观点都存在理论或经验上的缺陷。作者从结构变化入手,以联盟的可获性、制衡的实力门槛以及美国的霸权护持战略等三个因素解释了当前其他大国没有对美国进行制衡的现象,并且指出了这一现象的存在对国际关系理论生长具有的启发性意义。

After the Cold War, the United States became the most powerful country in the world, and the other powers failed to balance it effectively. This change initiated a debate on the theory of the balance of power. However, there are theoretical and practical failures, whether criticisms, revisions, or defenses, in these debates. From the perspective of structural change, the author argues that the availability of alliances, the threshold of capability, and the U.S. strategy of maintain-ing hegemony are the reasons for the lack of a balance of power. The author concludes that this absence will be of great relevance to the development of IR theories.