It Takes Two to Tango: Autocratic underbalancing,regime legitimacy and China’s responses to India’s rise |
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Authors: | Oriana Skylar Mastro |
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Institution: | Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA |
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Abstract: | What factors do autocracies evaluate when responding to perceived threats and why might they fail to balance appropriately? I posit that autocratic leaders may choose greater exposure to an external threat if, by doing so, it preserves regime legitimacy. Specifically, the desire to promote a positive image to one’s domestic public creates incentives to publicly downplay a rival’s military progress, which then affects the state’s ability to mobilize resources to respond to the growing threat. I test this theory in the case of China’s response to India’s military rise. This research contributes to balancing theory and empirical work on East Asian security. |
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Keywords: | Balancing theory rising powers autocratic regimes regime legitimacy China India |
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