Venezuela's Countermeasure Strategy against the United States in the Perspective of Soft Balancing
The"unipolar moment"of the United States coincided with the absence of rebalancing after the Cold War,and this puzzle triggered a reflection on the"balance of power"theory.The concept of"soft balancing"emerged on the basis of the"balance of threat"theory and provided a reasonable explanation for the absence of balancing against the US after the Cold War.Soft balancing is a systematic set of strategic choices that weak states make in asymmetric interactions with strong powers,including rhetoric,institutional ties,economic statecraft,and diplomatic agreements.It offers a new perspective for understanding the dilemma of strong powers not being able to"do whatever they want"with weaker states and the countermeasures by the weak against the strong.This article attempts to provide a thorough analysis of Venezuela's countermeasures against the US from this perspective.In terms of tactics,Venezuela's soft balancing against the United States consists of measures such as building diplomatic alliances with anti-American countries such as Cuba,Iran and Russia,implementing systematic denials of cooperation,and constructing regional development initiatives that exclude the United States.In terms of motivation,Venezuela's countermeasures against the United States are the direct result of changes in its threat perception.Factors such as the legitimacy crisis caused by US'unilateralism,changes in international norms,the financial support of the oil dollar,shifts in the US global strategic focus,and the strong momentum of left movements in Latin America at the beginning of the 21st century,created favourable conditions for Venezuela to counterbalance US'power and influence.Judging by the results,Venezuela's countermeasures have achieved certain results from the perspective of safeguarding its independence and national interests as well as strengthening the unity of the left in Latin America.However,due to the"dual dependence"in the implementation of its policies,the limitations are obvious and inevitable.
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
