The European Union's Place in United States–China Strategic Competition: How Role Dynamics Drive Brussels Towards Washington
本文用角色理论解释欧盟为何在中美战略竞争加剧时调整立场、更靠近美国，分析了角色兼容性如何推动欧美对华政策趋同。
Abstract Against the backdrop of intensifying United States–China strategic competition, the European Union (EU) has recently changed course and moved closer to mirroring US rhetoric and action on China. Why has this happened, and how can it be best explained? In this article, it is argued that current role dynamics between the EU and the two rival great powers can help us understand the growing, albeit not full, EU–United States alignment on China. Role theory assumes that co‐operation between actors intensifies when their roles become more compatible. Accordingly, it is shown that the EU has recently adjusted its role to be more closely aligned with the United States' position. That is to say, the EU has reshaped its own role conception, whilst the bloc has likewise become more open to meeting US role expectations after EU–United States role‐playing turned positive once again under President Joe Biden.