理论与现实的双重困境——后冷战时代“民主和平论”再审视

Double Dilemma at both the Theoretical and Practical Level:A Retrospect of the Democratic Peace Theory in the Post-cold War Era

"民主和平论"是政治学领域的重要议题,长期受到西方学者的关注,自20世纪90年代以来,它成为美国笼络欧洲、向全球扩张霸权的理论工具。民主制度与国际和平之间的关系,各国、各界解读不尽相同,二战结束后民主国家之间,尤其是美欧等老牌民主国家之间,并未发生战争的事实,的确为西方国家输出民主提供了难以驳斥的借口。从无政府状态下美欧霸权主义的本质、国际权力格局当中美欧实力的不均衡状态,以及基于合作成本与收益计算所形成的政策偏好等现实主义宏观理论来分析,冷战结束后老牌民主国家间的和平,仅仅是现实利益的一致,并非民主制度使然,美欧围绕欧债危机的货币博弈和"棱镜事件"恰好佐证了这一点。

As a strand of liberalism, the Democratic Peace Theory is an important subject in the field of politics. At the theoretic level, it has long been the concern of western scholars. From the practical standpoint, it functions as a theoretic tool for the United States to co-opt Europe and expand its hegemony around the world since 1990s. The relevancy of democracy and international peace results in fierce controversy globally. The fact, however, that there is nearly no conflict between democracies, especially no war between the United States and Europe after World War ]I , does provide a persuasive excuse for western countries to output democracy. Via macroeconomic theories of the realism, such as characteristics of hegemonism for the US and Europe in an anarchical world, the imbalance of strength between the two in international power structure, and the policy preferences to cooperate based on cost-effectiveness calculation, the author proves that harmonious relation between western countries after cold war results from realistic interests, rather than democracy. The cases, such as the Eurozone debt crisis and relevant monetary game between Europe and the U.S., as well as the Prism Incident, provide proofs for the judgment.