意识形态错觉：美国与中国的竞争不是主义
作者：埃尔布里奇·科尔比和罗伯特·卡普兰 外交事务 2020年9月4日
冷战初期，美国也面临着类似的十字路口。 德怀特·艾森豪威尔总统等一些人物对苏联采取了强硬立场，但建议在对抗中必须有选择性，引导美国外交政策走向选择性和他所说的“中间道路”。
其他人，例如 NSC-68（1950 年国家安全委员会报告，1950 年颇具影响力的报告）的作者，相信应采取广泛的、系统性的方法来对抗苏联，这一信念有助于美国在越南问题上陷入困境。 华盛顿现在正处于新的大国斗争的相似时刻，它应该选择类似于艾森豪威尔的立场。
我们并不是在提议一种一维的现实政治。 美国必须捍卫自由、共和政府和人类尊严。 拥护这些价值观将吸引世界各地的其他人站在美国的旗帜下，有助于展示向北京屈服的危险，并为集体努力提供动力。 我们必须认识到，北京本身至少在很大程度上是从意识形态角度思考的，即使竞争根本上不是关于意识形态的。
然而，外交政策是由需求层次构成的。 外交政策——尤其是在共和国——应该服务于一个国家公民的利益。 尽管美国人可能希望中国成为一个更自由、更公正的社会，但他们的政府不应该为此负责，特别是考虑到与北京进行过度意识形态冲突的成本和风险。 美国可以而且当然应该强调尊重人的尊严和政治权利，以此作为区别于中国的一种方式。 但政策制定者必须保持清醒的视角并有选择性，尤其是在风险如此之高的情况下。
本文摘自2020年9月4日发表在《外交事务》上的一篇文章。
The Ideology Delusion: America's Competition With China Is Not About Doctrine (Foreign Affairs Sep 4, 2020)
Early in the Cold War, the United States faced a similar crossroads. Some figures, such as President Dwight Eisenhower, took a tough line on the Soviet Union but counseled the need to be selective in confrontations, steering US foreign policy toward selectivity and what he called the “middle way".
Others, such as the authors of NSC-68 (the influential 1950 National Security Council report in 1950), believed in an expansive, systemic approach to confronting the Soviet Union, a conviction that helped to entangle the United States in Vietnam. Washington is now at a similar juncture in a new great-power struggle, and it should choose a stance akin to Eisenhower's.
We are not proposing a one-dimensional realpolitik. The United States must stand for freedom, republican government and human dignity. Standing for these values will draw others around the world to the US banner, help demonstrate the dangers of bowing to Beijing, and provide a motivating force to collective efforts. And we must recognise that Beijing itself thinks in at least substantially ideological terms, even if the competition is not fundamentally about ideology.
Yet foreign policy consists of a hierarchy of needs. Foreign policy — especially in a republic— should serve the interests of a country's citizens. Although Americans may wish for China to become a freer and more just society, their government should not be responsible for making it so, especially given the costs and risks of pursuing an excessively ideological conflict with Beijing. The United States can and should certainly emphasise respect for human dignity and political rights as a way to distinguish itself from China. But policymakers must maintain a clear-eyed perspective and be selective, especially when the stakes are so high.
This is an excerpt from an article published in Foreign Affairs on September 4th, 2020.
ELBRIDGE COLBY is a Principal at the Marathon Initiative. He served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development from 2017 to 2018.
ROBERT D. KAPLAN holds the Robert Strausz-Hupé Chair in Geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is the author of The Good American: The Epic Life of Bob Gersony, the U.S. Government’s Greatest Humanitarian.
