美国外交史研究百年:流派、方法与争论

The Centennial Study of the American Diplomatic History:Schools,Methods and Debates

第一次世界大战催生了作为一个独立史学研究领域的美国外交史。它最初主要使用官方档案,关注涉及战争、和平与国家安全的重大事件。自20世纪80年代开始,美国外交史家重视借鉴社会史和文化史的研究方法,关注种族、性别和宗教等文化因素对外交的影响;与此同时,他们还借鉴国际史、跨国史和全球史的研究方法,从过去只注重战争与和平等问题,转向同时关注贸易、移民和人权等问题在对外关系中的作用。21世纪初,学者间关于美国外交史学的走向问题产生争论,聚焦于究竟应该继续推动跨国和国际转向,还是坚守美国国家本位的研究传统。不少学者仍然重视美国国内因素对对外关系的影响,强调将国家重新放到外交史研究的中心地位,仍需关注战争、外交事务、军事力量及各国领导人的思想根源和决策环境等传统课题。从这个意义上讲,“新外交史”并非而且也不可能取代传统外交史学,美国外交史学界并没有出现所谓的“范式革命”。美国外交史学家需要面对如何更好地与国际关系学界融合发展,“非西方”在国际关系研究领域的崛起,以及缺少具有全球影响力的学术巨著等挑战和问题。

The First World War catalysed the birth of the American diplomatic history as an independent historical research field.Initially,it focused on significant events,such as war,peace and national security,mainly by relying on official archives.Since the 1980s,historians of the American diplomatic history paid attention to the experience of research methods of social and cultural history,and examined the influence of cultural factors on the diplomacy,including race,gender,and religion.Meanwhile,they also borrowed research methods from studies of international history,transnational history,and global history,not only emphasising on issues of war and peace,but also shifting their attention to the effects of issues relating to commerce,immigration and human rights on foreign relations.In the early 21"century,scholars fiercely debated on the direction of the American diplomatic history,focusing on whether to contribute to deepen international and transnational approaches or to adhere to the American national standards in diplomatic historiography.Many of them still emphasised the impact of domestic factors on the American foreign relations,advocating putting the state back at the centre of diplomatic history studies and paying close attention to traditional topics,such as war,diplomatic affairs,military power,and the ideological roots and decision-making circumstances of world leaders.In this sense,the‘New Diplomatic History'has not replaced and is unlikely to replace traditional diplomatic history.The so-called paradigm revolution did not occur in the field of the American diplomatic history.The historians of this field now face new challenges and issues,such as integrating more effectively with the academic field of international relations,the ascent of the‘non-West'in international relations studies,and the lack of scholarly tomes with global influence.