能動者與結構的相互建構─從社會建構主義論歐盟與美國的互動

Abstract

歐盟與美國是當前國際社會上互動最為密切的關係。就安全領域而言，美蘇在冷戰期間的敵意觀念結構是歐美在冷戰期間安全合作的基礎，不過由於不具備自我防衛的能力，在安全領域也缺乏整合，使歐洲國家在冷戰期間無法以整體的角色承擔與美國相應的防衛責任，也因而必須接受不對等的夥伴關係。為了承擔更重要的國際角色，歐盟在冷戰結束之後決定發展獨立的安全與防衛能力，也藉機調整過去不對等的夥伴關係。雖然，夥伴關係的調整會影響歐美安全合作原有的和諧，但是不足以動搖友誼觀念結構的基礎，歐盟與美國都不會將對方視為具有生存威脅或主權競爭關係的敵人和對手。 在經濟領域上，由於歐洲經濟整合成功，不但提升歐洲整體的經濟實力，也使歐洲能利用歐盟以單一角色在國際經貿事務上取得更大的發言權。同時，可觀的經濟實力也使歐盟與美國的經濟關係相對對等，在遇有爭端或矛盾時，也更容易堅持立場而難以讓步。雖然經濟體制的同質程度較高使歐美對於自由貿易的目標有共同的期待，但是也相對容易產生競爭關係。因此，雖然歐美對於雙方在經貿事務上的夥伴身分有所認知，卻難以產生具體的實踐，使歐美在經貿領域的夥伴關係不如在安全領域般的密切。 雖然歐美在安全或經貿領域的競爭關係在冷戰結束之後反而變得明顯，不過仍無法動搖歐美對彼此夥伴關係的認知，因此在歐美之間存在的是一種具有競爭關係的友誼觀念結構，也可以說歐美的競爭關係是在友誼的觀念結構之上發展，該等友誼的觀念結構也透過雙邊或多邊的對話和合作機制得到強化。因此，強調權力的新現實主義與強調利益的新自由主義，由於都重視物質結構，忽略觀念結構的作用，因而難以解釋歐美之間友誼與競爭關係並存的情況，而重視觀念因素的建構作用的社會建構主義或可做為解釋歐美友誼與競爭關係並存的可行途徑。 本文分為六章。第一章將陳述本文的研究動機與目的，並進行文獻回顧與分析，也將說明本文的分析架構與研究方法。第二章將從理論面說明強調物質因素的新現實主義與新自由主義為何難以適切解釋歐美長期以來的友好關係，以及社會建構主義的基本假設如何使社會建構主義能夠做為解釋歐美關係的更適途徑。 第三章與第四章則分別就歐美在安全與經濟領域內的互動，分析歐美共有觀念建構與調整的過程，以及如何透過現有的合作框架實踐對友誼觀念的認知。第五章將以歐盟是否解除對中國大陸的武器禁運作為個案研究，分析觀念因素如何對歐美的對外行動和歐美關係產生影響。對中國大陸角色的不同認知導致歐美對中國大陸的態度有所不同，不過透過現有的對話機制，歐美也可能對中國大陸角色逐漸建立共同的認知，減少雙方立場不一致的情況。第六章為結論，回顧本文的研究成果並檢討本文研究的侷限與不足之處，以作為本題未來進一步深入研究時的參考。 本文從社會建構主義的觀點出發，探討歐美對友誼與夥伴關係的認知，如何創造歐美之間和諧與合作的關係，以及在現有的夥伴與合作架構下如何化解彼此的爭端或矛盾，使歐美能夠在觀念結構的影響下建構更具友誼基礎的關係。

The EU-U.S. relationship is the closest one in the world. On the part of security issues, the enmity between the United States and the Soviet Union supported the security alliance and the friendship between Europe and the United States in the Cold War era. Because of lacking the capability to defend itself, Western Europe couldn’t take an equiponderant role and had to depend upon the security protection from the United States. In order to be a more important global actor and adjust the dependant partnership with the United States, the EU determinates to develop independent security and defense capabilities after the Cold War. Although the development of the Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP) or the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) may have an impact on the existing partnership between the EU and the United States, it wouldn’t change the idea structure of friendship since they don’t regard each other as an enemy or a rival. On the part of economic issues, due to the success of the European economic integration, Europe boosted its economic growth and earned a higher status in the international economic affairs as well. At the same time, the strong economic power made Europe have a more equal relationship with the United States, and could hold its ground when having economic disputes or contradictions with the United States. The EU and the United States could reach a common prospect of the global free trade more easily than other states due to the similar economic system; however, the similar economic structures and interests might also put them in competition easily. Although the EU and the United States have a consciousness of partnership in economic affairs, it’s hard for them to fulfill this idea, and consequently, the partnership between the EU and the United States in the economic part is not as close as that in the security part. Even though the discords or disputes between the EU and the United States now have become more baldly than those of the Cold War, it doesn’t change their cognitions of the partnership and friendship. The existing bilateral and multilateral dialogues and the cooperation institutions strengthen the common ideas and culture of their friendship. Because of focusing on the material structure and ignoring the effect of the idea structure, neither the neo-realism which emphasizes the power factor nor the neo-liberalism which emphasizes the interest factor could explain the coexistence of the friendship and competition between the EU and the United States. This thesis considered that the social constructivism which emphasizes the construction force of the idea factor could be a more appropriate approach to explain the coexistence of the friendship and competition between the EU and the United States. This thesis included six chapters. Chapter one stated the motives and purposes of this research, literature reviews, the analysis structures and the research methods. Chapter two set out theoretically to comment why the neo-realism and neo-liberalism which emphasized the materials factors couldn’t competently explain the long-term friendship between the EU and the United States and what kind of theoretical hypotheses made the social constructivism a more appropriate approach to explain the EU-US relations. Chapter three and four investigated how the EU and the United Stated interacted on the security and economic issues to explore the process of idea construction and coordination and how their cognitions of friendship were fulfilled through the existing cooperation framework.

Moreover, Chapter five analyzed the interaction between the EU and the United States in the case of “China Arms Embargo” to investigate how the idea factor affected their decisions or actions and the EU-US relations. This thesis argued that the different cognitions toward China led to the different attitudes and policies to China. However, through the existing dialogue channels and institutions, the EU and the United States could gradually adjust and construct the common cognitions toward China, and decrease their disagreements. The last chapter reviewed the findings and the insufficiency of this research. This thesis used the social constructivist perspective to explore how the cognitions and ideas of the friendship and partnership created the long-term harmonious and cooperative relationship between the EU and the United States, and how they resolved their disputes or contradictions under the existing partnership and cooperation framework and constructed a more solid partnership and friendship on the basis of the ideas structure.