The Origin, Change And Practice Of Latin American Autonomy Theor

In the 1970 s,the academic circles of international studies on Latin American region had a great deal of discussion on the concept of autonomy,which facilitated the Autonomy Theory.The theory,which broke through the established framework of mainstream international relations studies of the western world and abandoned the Western countries-centered theory in particular,regards peripheral countries as "subjects" rather than "objects" of the international relations studies.Based in part on the realist analytical framework,the theory replaces the central countries’ power with the peripheral countries’ demand for independence,and studies the feasible paths for the peripheral countries to reduce their dependence on foreign countries,to better integrate into the international system,and to realize their own national interests.The Autonomy Theory,which absorbs the important viewpoints of Latin American developmentalism and dependency theory,the two major Latin American native international relations theories,is regarded as the third major theoretical contribution of Latin American circles on international relations studies following.However,the Chinese academic circle is still relatively unfamiliar with the Autonomy Theory,without any academic work of systematical studies on it.In order to make up for the information gap,this thesis made a thorough introduction and systematical evaluation on the half-century development of the Autonomy Theory and its main viewpoints,carried out case analysis on Brazil,Argentina,Venezuela and other Latin American countries,and studied on the mutual influence between the theory and Latin American countries’ diplomatic practices.The thesis summed up with five characteristics of the Autonomy Theory.First,the Autonomy Theory provides a new perspective for the international relations studies.The theory emphasizes that international relations studies should not only have a perspective related to the power,but also a perspective related to the lack of power.This is because the autonomy comes with power and is exercised by actors with enormous power.Because of their huge power,the central countries enjoy almost complete autonomy,while the autonomy of the peripheral countries is inherently deficient or even absent.Therefore,in the international arena where central countries with autonomy are constantly fighting for power,peripheral countries must pragmatically rationalize the "lack of power" and make full use of those limited and even accidental opportunities that emerge in the evolution of international politics to improve their autonomy and reduce their dependence on central countries.Second,the Autonomy Theory dialectically analyzes the internal and external causes of peripheral countries’ dependence on other countries.The theory believes that the very few countries with exclusive conditions such as nuclear weapons are in the center of the international system,and exercise various degrees of control over peripheral countries by formulating international rules.However,unlike the Dependency Theory,the Autonomy Theory opposes the enlargement of external factors,and believes that the dependency of peripheral countries is not simply imposed by the central countries,but rather a choice of peripheral countries’ elites to exchange for benefits.Once the elite acts as the "conveyor belt" of the external influence,it will suppress the domestic social change and technological innovation intentionally or unintentionally,which results in the lack autonomy.Thus,the possibility of exercising autonomy depends on both the structural conditions of domestic viability and international tolerance.Third,the Autonomy Theory points out feasible paths for the development of peripheral countries.The theory holds that the rule of the central countries and the autonomy of the peripheral countries are not incompatible.On the contrary,the dependent countries can creatively use the manoeuvring space provided by the international system on the basis of satisfying a series of domestic necessary conditions,and cooperate with like-minded countries to implement an integration strategy to form a coherent and cohesive system,expand the resource and market base,increase the scale of production,promote endogenous development,and improve collective bargaining power at the international level.Meanwhile,the theory also emphasizes that integration itself does not guarantee the realization of autonomy of each member,provided that all members set the goal of integration to achieve autonomy.The Autonomy Theory can endure the test of time.The end of the Cold War led to radical changes in the international structure,which once caused a crisis of confidence in the Autonomy Theory based on the coexistence of conflicts between the East and the West as well as those between the North and the South.The theory has been accused of engaging in unproductive political confrontation with the central countries just to satisfy the vanity of the elites,while making the lower classes bear the costs in pursuit of autonomy.In order to adapt to the changes of time,the Autonomy Theory abandons the traditional paradigm of "adversarial autonomy",and successively proposes new paradigms such as "associative autonomy","participatory autonomy","multiple autonomy" and "regional autonomy",adding factors such as globalism,co-existence to the concept of autonomy.The new factors have supplemented and expanded the Autonomy Theory,enhanced its own explanatory ability,and promoted the practice of autonomous diplomacy by some major Latin American countries,thus producing new vitality.Fifth,the Autonomy Theory provides important references for deepening China-Latin America cooperation.Through case analysis of the foreign policies and international strategies of the Menem government in Argentina(1989-1999),the Lula government in Brazil(2003-2011),and the Chavez government in Venezuela(1999-2013),the thesis studied the relationship between the above governments and the United States and the international institution,summed up with three types of independent foreign policies implemented by Latin American countries after the Cold War,including "protective autonomy","competitive autonomy" and "competitive autonomy",and reflected the feasibility and effectiveness of using the Autonomy Theory to understand the logic of Latin American countries’ diplomatic exercises.In the face of the increasing aggressiveness of the United States in the trilateral relationship between China,the United States and Latin America,China can effectively take advantage of the growing sense of autonomy of Latin American countries,consolidate and develop the interests of both sides on the issue of autonomy,lead the trilateral relations for China’s benefits with an increasingly close relationship between China and Latin America.