How Sentiment Matters in International Relations: China and the South China Sea Dispute
the case study aims to demonstrate that cognitive variables considering Chinese psychological, self-evaluative motives and needs need to be taken into the equation in order to account for China’s assessment of the SCS dispute over time in a more comprehensive manner. In so doing, it intends to provide an additional, yet highly relevant elucidation of the Chinese past, present and future patterns of foreign policy behavior toward the SCS. In this vein, Chinese respect needs and expectations are deemed crucial as they are expected to affect Chinese foreign policy preference-shaping processes, especially toward a region such as Southeast Asia in which perception gaps are particularly severe (cf. Godement, 2014)16.
Furthermore, on an additional, less case-study-specific note, the alternate approach of this book with its embrace of cognitive variables is meant to supplement the present tableu of foreign policy analysis (FPA) in general17. Likewise, the project at hand is inspired by the author’s conviction that more attention shall be paid to the general existence and implications of gaps in perception and recognition among various SCS stakeholders, on the one hand, and to the peculiarities of China’s respect sensitivities with regard to its counterparts’ conduct in the SCS, on the other hand. This conviction very much derives from the assumption, drawing from preliminary studies of recognition, justice, status, prestige, emotions and similar concepts, that an actor’s perception of inadequate recognition of its needs, ideas, values, status and the like has adverse effects on its propensity to engage in cooperation, even more, if such non-recognition is deemed as deliberative. This perspective is underpinned by Crawford who strongly accentuates the significance of emotions:
“[I]t is no wonder that postconflict peacebuilding efforts too frequently fail and wars reerupt because peace settlements and peacebuilding policies play with emotional fire are that practitioners scarcely understand but nevertheless seek to manipulate. Systematic analysis of emotion may have important implications for international relations theory and the practices of diplomacy, negotiation, and postconflict peacebuilding“ (Crawford, 2000, p. 116).
Applied to the SCS dispute, such inadequate recognition may lead, on the political level, to suboptimal policy choices with destabilizing consequences on regional stability, thereby rendering confidence-building and conflict management in the SCS even less viable; in addition, on a more analytical level, it forestalls a fully-fledged account of China’s SCS policy. Hence, in the event that this analysis is indeed to confirm such correlations between respect dynamics and foreign policy preferences in the case of the PRC, this alternate cognitive variable should no longer be neglected by international scholars and diplomats alike if a comprehensive picture of the development of the PRC’s SCS policy and possible avenues for future and long-term stability in the SCS are seriously desired.
The consecutive chapter introduces the theoretical framework, thereby establishing a working definition of respect and specifying its operationalization.
[23] 2. Analytical and Theoretical Framework
The research project at hand pursues a theoretical perspective closely related to political psychology and social constructivism. Commonly distinguishing between material and social reality, constructivism regards language and communication as crucial in terms of portraying, defining and modifying material reality. In this vein, material reality is socially constructed through communication and interaction (social reality) and is reflected in and shaped by language. That said, the subjective perception of social reality constitutes both the key assumption of constructivist thought and the starting point of this research project.
Against this background, respect and disrespect dynamics manifested in Chinese elite discourses pertaining to the SCS dispute constitute this project’s independent variable. The adopted approach builds upon the presumption that [24] any neglect of China’s social reality, including its self-evaluative respect needs and related preferences and self-evaluative motives, is problematic. Instead, a solid understanding of the PRC’s social reality and insights into its cognition and judgment of external behavior is indispensable for a robust understanding of China’s general order of preferences vis-à-vis the South China Sea dispute, now and in the future to come.
2.1 A Conceptualization of Respect
“A nation’s reputation is clearly very important, just as important as its economic or military power” (Pang, as cited in Shirk, 2008, p. 107).
The analysis at hand seeks to address the aforementioned empirical and theoretical blind spot by rendering some pioneering work, including a method-guided and extensive identification and critical qualification of respect dynamics in Chinese elite discourses on the South China Sea dispute. This section first provides a rough conceptual approximation to individual and national respect, thereby also introducing related cognitive concepts and approaches. Subsequently, it discusses why and under which circumstances actors generally strive for respect and in what context disrespect experiences are especially probable to occur. In addition, cognitive effects caused by and common response patterns in response to disrespect experiences are examined. The consecutive section then contains a brief overview of the concepts of face, face-work and its traditional role in Chinese culture. Subsequently, the project’s hypotheses, which are closely related to or derived from the analytical respect framework, are set out. Ultimately, the final section deals with questions of operationalization, particularly regarding the implementation of the respect and disrespect identification process.
2.1.1 Respect: Definitions, Related Concepts and Implications
Originally, respect (lat. respicere) is a concept rooted in social psychology and philosophy. It first and foremost involves the subjective perception of an individual human being’s self and its role in society. Thus, it concerns the relationship between an individual actor’s self-esteem, status, normative moral/social beliefs and the perceived acknowledgment by others of the expectations derived thereof. In this vein, the assessment of respectful behavior by a respect granting actor vis-à-vis a respect receiving actor serves as an [25] indicator of the latter’s social standing and social significance. Status concerns and an actor’s desire to maintain (or enhance) social standing constitute fundamental elements of respect. Naturally, these concerns are driven by status-related expectations, essentially the belief that self-ascribed status conception entitles oneself to corresponding external recognition thereof by others. To put it differently, other actors are expected to properly acknowledge one’s self-perceived social standing and self-worth18. Possible avenues for such acknowledgment encompass verbal manifestations, gestures, symbols and actual deeds.
Against this backdrop, respect shall hereinafter be understood as an attitude by others manifested in words, gestures or deeds perceived as adequate to one’s self-evaluated self-worth and social standing. In turn, if an actor perceives certain external attitude to be an inadequate confirmation thereof instead, disrespect is the anticipated result (Dillon, 2007, 2010). In other words, disrespect shall be understood as the result of a vacancy or vacuum between an actor’s subjective respect expectations and other parties’ actual behavior and attitudes.
2.1.1.1 Related Concepts and Terms
Given its truly interdisciplinary character, respect draws upon insights from related disciplines and terminologies. Hence, for the sake of clarification and differentiation, four particularly relevant concepts require special mention: recognition, honor, justice and prestige. All four, in one way or another, overlap with the respect conceptualization put forward in the following.
The first among the terms bearing the greatest resemblance to this study’s approach to respect is recognition. Constituting the theoretical starting point of this project, it is associated with more than just an attitude or emotion; it is the foundation for fully-fledged theoretical accounts (Honneth, 1995) and models (Taylor, 1994). In general, (political) recognition theory19 assumes that actors are eager to have their self-worth and status conceptions, particularly the rights derived thereof, acknowledged by others not just for the sake of material benefits but also for their respective symbolic and inherently psychological significance. Honneth