Middle Powers and Soft-Power Rivalry: Egyptian-Israeli Competition in Africa
Middle Powers and Soft-Power Rivalry: Egyptian-Israeli Competition in Africa
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中等强国与软实力竞争：埃及与以色列在非洲的竞争
DOI：
10.1093/fpa/orac041
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发表时间：
2023
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Siniver A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Siniver A
国际关系学者早已认识到软实力在大国霸权图谋中的重要性。相比之下，我们对中等强国采用非强制性吸引战略的情况知之甚少，尤其是对软实力在中等强国对抗的背景下如何运作的情况知之甚少。我们认为，首先，软实力增强了中等国家的联盟建设战略。与各国联手应对共同威胁的期望相反，通过发展援助使用软实力在目标国中产生了“我们”与“他们”的区别，在没有共同敌人的情况下将它们团结起来。其次，只要不挑战目标国的国家利益，中间国家的软实力战略可能会支持联盟的维持。利用广泛的档案和访谈数据，我们研究如何在撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）从1957年到1974年的埃塞俄比亚-以色列的竞争中的软实力。我们展示了软实力如何超越大国议程设置的背景下运作，从而提供了新的证据，软实力的重要性，在国家间的对抗和非胁迫之间的相互作用在世界政治。
Scholars of international relations have long recognized the importance of soft power in great powers’ hegemonic designs. In contrast, we know little of middle powers’ employment of noncoercive strategies of attraction and, in particular, how soft power operates in the context of middle-power antagonism. We suggest that, first, soft power enhances coalition-building strategies for middle powers. Contrary to expectations that states join forces against a shared threat, the use of soft power via development aid produces an “Us” versus “Them” distinction in target states that unites them in the absence of a common enemy. Second, middle states’ soft-power strategies are likely to support coalition maintenance so long as it does not challenge target states’ national interests. Utilizing extensive archival and interview-based data, we examine how soft power featured in Egyptian–Israeli competition across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 1957 to 1974. We demonstrate how soft power operates beyond the context of great power agenda setting, therefore providing novel evidence for the importance of soft power in the interplay between interstate antagonism and noncoercion in world politics.