新自由主义与新保守主义的博弈——欧美当今主导政治思潮探讨

自冷战结束,尤其是小布什当政以来,美欧的关系出现了裂痕。表面上看,苏联的突然解体和冷战的结束使美欧失去了共同的敌人似乎是双方渐行渐远的原因,实际上,透过表象我们发现双方主导政治思潮——新自由主义和新保守主义的——对立才是真正的关键。自霍布斯和洛克以来,自由主义一直都是西方主导性的政治思潮。在自由主义发展的同时,另一种政治哲学思潮——保守主义也发展起来。二战后欧洲的主导政治思潮是以福利国家为核心的新自由主义。而在美国,从20世纪60年代开始,一种新型的保守主义开始登上美国政治的舞台并日益强劲,更成为里根和小布什两届政府的主导政治思潮,这就是新保守主义。以不同政治哲学思潮为指导的美欧两方所采取的国内外政策也有很大区别,这造成了它们的分歧和对抗,但从长远看,美欧关系的构架应是竞争、互补和合作并存的一种状态。

The Game Playing between Neo-liberalism and Neo-conservatism

Ever since the end of the Cold War, especially since the beginning of George W. Bush’s administration, crack has appeared in US-European relationship. It seems that the abrupt disintegration of Soviet Union resulted in their remote relationship, since they lost their common enemy. But when we observe the phenomenon more deeply, we will find the real reason is the opposition of leading political thoughts on each side, that is to say,neo-liberalism versus neo-conservatism. Since the age of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, liberalism has always been a leading political thought in the west. Corresponding to it, another political and philosophic thought, that is to say, conservatism, has developed at the mean time. After WWII, the leading political thought in Europe was neo-liberalism with the focus on welfare countries. While in the US, a new type of conservatism has began to step into American political stage and became increasingly vigorous, which later resolved into the leading political thought in Ragan and George W. Bush’s administration, that is, the neo-conservatism. Guided by different political philosophies, America and Europe also differ greatly in their domestic and foreign policies. These differences led to the discrepancy and confrontation. In the long run, the framework of US-Europe relationship should be a state in which competition, complementation and cooperation coexisted.