Chapter 29 Wishful thinking of "peace and development", is "new imperialism" allowed?

In 2003, Fang Ning's new work "The Era of New Imperialism and China's Strategy" was published, which once again attracted attention. This is another profound reflection on the world by Fang Ning after the Iraq War.He asserted that the era of peace and development has come to an end, and with obstacles in the international circulation of capital, the era of new imperialism has arrived. Fang Ning's concept of "new imperialism" can be traced back to "Introduction to the Development of Modern Capitalism" in 1995 and "China's Road in the Shadow of Globalization" in 1999. Colonization" and "post-colonialism" concepts.He divided the history of world capitalism into three stages: the era of colonialism, manifested as direct rule and super-economic plunder; after World War II, the world political and economic structure changed, the old colonialism disintegrated, the socialist camp emerged, and the world economy entered Globalization, the emergence of neo-colonialism, and the emergence of a world economic order that is beneficial to the West; however, as the "trap of development" hinders globalization, Western countries have to exercise more and more direct control and intervention over the third world countries. The means are increasingly returning to the era of colonialism, which Fang Ning calls "post-colonialism" or "re-colonization".

In Fang Ning’s view, the biggest difference between post-colonialism and neo-colonialism is that in the post-colonial era, the West will no longer be satisfied with indirectly controlling the economy of the third world through transnational corporations and international economic organizations and transferring value.The West will directly control the economy of the third world countries, take over part or all of the economic sovereignty of the third world countries, and directly grasp the power of macroeconomic regulation of the third world countries.This "post-colonialism" that Fang Ning called was what he later called "new imperialism".

Fang Ning analyzed the similarities and differences between the old empire and the new empire.Their common points are mainly manifested in content, such as the expansion of territory and sphere of influence, a strong army, martial spirit, etc.; their differences are mainly manifested in form, such as the quantity and quality of military power, the expansion of aggressive ambitions, and the different pretexts for war. etc.Therefore, he summarized the "new empire" into five major characteristics: super strong military power, power politics, cultural imperialism, imperial consciousness of terror and democracy, and pre-emptive tactics.

The well-known strategist Zhang Wenmu is very interested in Fang Ning's reference to the "new imperialist era". He believes that this is Fang Ning's "most important judgment" "because it breaks people's wishful thinking about 'peace and development'". In fact, for several years, especially after the end of the Cold War, politicians including China believed that the general trend of the world is peace and development, and there will be no major military conflicts in the world.As Fang Ning described: "Peace and development in the second half of the 20th century gave mankind an impression of historical progress. People thought that the world and history had completely changed, and globalization gave people a paradoxical feeling. Economic, political, cultural and other aspects are integrated." But the Kosovo war, the Afghan war and the Iraq war reminded people: "The era of peace and development as a kind of history is coming to an end."

How China faces the era of new imperialism is a question that Fang Ning focuses on answering.He believes that in view of the changes of the times, the strategy of the United States, and the dynamics of the actions of the United States, we should conduct a comprehensive reflection on the times, on strategy, and on the relationship between economy and national defense. Fang Ning has always stressed that Sino-US relations do not depend on China's attitude.He believes that, no matter from the perspective of history or reality, the conflict between China and the United States is obvious and unavoidable.Given this situation, China needs its own development strategy.

Fang Ning is troubled by the idea of ​​economic priority in China's policy.According to that kind of thinking, it seems that "if economic construction is improved, politics will be stable, spiritual civilization will be developed, morality will be improved, and national defense will be improved."In an abstract sense, he concedes, this makes sense.But the problem is, "Developing the economy and then developing national defense, but there will be a process in the middle, which will not be accomplished overnight. After the economy develops, it will be transformed into national defense strength, but if this process is interrupted, our future will be unimaginable."

Fang Ning noticed that the strategy of the United States is just the opposite. The United States believes that the most prominent manifestation of comprehensive national strength is military strength.The United States, a pragmatic country, has always pursued a pragmatic culture. It only cares about strength, and it believes that the concentrated expression of this strength is not GDP, let alone cultural China, but military strength.Fang Ning also saw that if the United States cannot use bombs to talk to you, it can treat its opponents as civilized people in a civilized way.Conversely, if you do not have this strength, then the United States will consider you a barbarian, and there is no need to talk to you on an equal footing.He believes, "Only by accelerating the modernization of our national defense, and only with the ability to fight against aggression, can we prevent the United States from using neo-imperialist methods to flatten the other side. To communicate with the world on an equal footing." Therefore, "accelerating the modernization of national defense is the basis for peaceful coexistence between China and the United States."

But what discourages nationalists like Fang Ning is that the Chinese are a nation that lacks the spirit of martial arts, and always pay attention to "conquering people with virtue, and tolerance is the greatest."Such a culture has actually subtly influenced the policy direction of the past dynasties in China.He believes that a nation with a martial spirit does not always have to resolve disputes through war, but always regards war as a positive way to solve problems.It is not that nations without martial spirit do not start wars, but that they cannot obtain the power of national revitalization from war and armed confrontation, and do not regard war as a positive way to solve problems, but only as a last resort.

Some people believe that the Chinese civilization has survived for thousands of years thanks to the pacifist doctrine of the mean.When the martial Western civilization was in trouble, they noticed the value of Chinese civilization.For example, after the First World War, Western scholars called on Westerners to learn from Chinese pacifism.These seem to prove that "tolerance is great" can trump force.Fang Ning believes that this view is very dangerous to China at present.When the moderate civilization meets the martial civilization, the former always suffers.Although some scholars in the West may appreciate the idea of ​​the mean, the key point is that Western politicians have no interest in it.Therefore, when your opponent advocates force, you still cling to the idea that tolerance is the greatest, that is not wisdom, but pedantry. "Point a gun at the forehead of the enemy, and the effect will undoubtedly exceed one hundred."

Fang Ning also conducted a rational analysis and criticism of the "appeasement" that appeared from time to time.In his view, although appeasement is historically a strategy, we should not be influenced by the superficial historical phenomenon of appeasement.The key is to figure out what are the historical conditions behind appeasement, under what conditions appeasement can be used as a strategy, and under what conditions it cannot be used.Appeasement as a policy is conditional.This condition is whether the opponent's desire for your interests is limited or unlimited.No amount of compromise will work when your opponent has unlimited plans for you.

Fang Ning believes that force should not be advocated and publicized, but force must not be relaxed. "Spending money on national defense is like paying insurance premiums for national property and people's lives. It does not create value on the surface, but prevents possible losses." We can regard "The Era of New Imperialism and China's Strategy" as Fang Ning's concentrated elaboration of contemporary Chinese nationalist thoughts, and once again embodies vivid nationalist thoughts like "The Road to China Under the Shadow of Globalization" melted.Zhang Wenmu, a strategy expert, said that reading "The Era of New Imperialism and China's Strategy" gives people a keen sense of "listening to the thunder in a silent place", and then feels that the feeling of seeing danger approaching but being powerless to stop it is even more heartbreaking!He believes that the book is a wake-up call to those who are immersed in the new song of peace and development and turn a blind eye to the dangerous surrounding security environment. Someone once asked Fang Ning, an official scholar in the system, a difficult question: "How did you become a nationalist?" Fang Ning replied with a smile at the time: "I think 'left' and 'right' or 'cosmopolitanism' and 'nationalism' are actually meant for outsiders to hear. Wearing such a label makes it easy for others to understand, otherwise it is not good. Positioning. As an insider, I have never considered these things. I will not position myself first, and then make my words, deeds, and theories conform to it. I start from reality, face specific problems, and study specific problems. , don't care about 'left' and 'right'." Such an answer can be understood as a person who is obsessed with thinking and exploring.In fact, Fang Ning never regarded nationalism as a symbol, but was trying to explore its specific content.He once said that once nationalism becomes a bunch of dogmas, compiled into "four words and eight sentences" and written in textbooks, nationalism is probably in its late stage and is about to become a fossil.From "Introduction to the Development of Modern Capitalism" to "The Road to China Under the Shadow of Globalization", and then to "The Era of New Imperialism and China's Strategy", Fang Ning's greatest contribution to the contemporary Chinese national consciousness lies in the conception of Chinese nationalism The era background and economic foundation revealed, that is the law of the movement of globalization itself. Fang Ning may not admit that he is a thinker of Chinese nationalism, so let history make the conclusion.