Huang Qingming
Department of Political Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32603 USA.
J Chin Polit Sci. 2021;26(1):1-26. doi: 10.1007/s11366-020-09698-0. Epub 2020 Oct 16.
In 2018, 43 leading International Relations scholars in the United States signed a public statement in support of an urgent call to preserve the current international order, triggering heated scholarly debates. The idealized form of the liberal international order was criticized by many scholars for its chronic problems, including the contradictions between proclaimed liberal values and illiberal behaviors, the inability to reform its institutional pillars to accommodate the diverse group of emerging powers, and the tensions between the defenders of this order and its challengers. These problems became fully exposed under the external shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic. As the coronavirus spreads globally and disrupts the world's political, economic, and social fabric, several forces that have gained momentum and strength during the last decade are now converging as a formidable force that may reconfigure the post-pandemic international order. This paper addresses three significant challenges to the foundations of the current liberal order: (1) the entrenchment of authoritarianism, characterized by authoritarian resilience, autocratization, and the consolidation of competing authoritarian political-economic models; (2) the exacerbation of nationalism enabled by nationalist and populist politicians; and (3) the intensified competition among major powers. China has played mixed roles in the process of reconfiguring the current order. It challenges the mythologized liberal international order and exposes the contradictions in the dominant Western model, while promoting an alternative hybrid political-economic model. The shock brought by the pandemic has provided ample opportunities for China to extend its networks and expand international space for its model.
2018年，美国43位顶尖国际关系学者签署了一份公开声明，支持一项维护当前国际秩序的紧急呼吁，引发了激烈的学术辩论。许多学者批评自由国际秩序的理想化形式存在长期问题，包括宣称的自由价值观与非自由行为之间的矛盾、无法改革其制度支柱以容纳新兴大国的多样化群体，以及该秩序的捍卫者与挑战者之间的紧张关系。这些问题在新冠疫情造成的外部冲击下充分暴露出来。随着新冠病毒在全球传播，扰乱世界的政治、经济和社会结构，过去十年中获得势头和力量的几股力量现在正汇聚成一股强大力量，可能会重塑疫情后的国际秩序。本文探讨了当前自由秩序基础面临的三个重大挑战：（1）威权主义的强化，其特征是威权韧性、独裁化以及相互竞争的威权政治经济模式的巩固；（2）民族主义和民粹主义政治家助长的民族主义的加剧；（3）大国之间竞争的加剧。中国在重塑当前秩序的过程中扮演了复杂的角色。它挑战了被神话化的自由国际秩序，揭示了西方主导模式中的矛盾，同时推动了一种替代性的混合政治经济模式。疫情带来的冲击为中国扩展其网络、扩大其模式的国际空间提供了充足的机会。
