Despite continuing to be a strong tendency in international relations today, “state revisionism” has been theoretically and empirically understudied. This article attempts to fill the lacuna by further conceptualizing revisionism and subsequently investigating its relationship with ontological (in)security through studying the ways in which revisionist states envision their identities and interests and take measures to secure them. It argues that revisionists define their relationship with outside “Others” primarily in terms of dissatisfaction and self-extending change and thus find themselves operating within an enmity-centric “Hobbesian culture of anarchy,” which may ironically serve as a source of ontological security due to the consequent “singularity” status it confers upon them. By opposing the prevailing status quo, however, revisionists are likely to subject themselves to a “geopolitics of exclusion,” which in turn helps render them more prone to feelings of ontological insecurity. To instantiate the theory, I focus on Iran and its nuclear behavior, contending that it represents a case of “thin revisionism” aimed at attaining ontological security, but which also entails undesirable consequences that generate ontological insecurity. The case furthermore reveals the limits of seeking ontological security, suggesting that the degree of revisionism is usually checked by existential fears of threat to survival.

中文翻译：

---

国际政治中的国家修正主义和本体论（不）安全：伊朗及其核行为的复杂案例

尽管“国家修正主义”在当今国际关系中仍然是一种强烈的趋势，但在理论上和经验上都没有得到充分研究。本文试图通过进一步概念化修正主义并随后通过研究修正主义国家设想其身份和利益并采取措施保护它们的方式来研究其与本体论（不）安全的关系来填补空白。它认为修正主义者主要根据不满和自我扩展的变化来定义他们与外部“他者”的关系，从而发现自己在以敌意为中心的“无政府状态的霍布斯文化”中运作，这可能具有讽刺意味的是作为本体安全的来源，因为从而赋予他们“奇点”地位。然而，通过反对普遍的现状，修正主义者很可能使自己受制于“排斥的地缘政治”，这反过来又使他们更容易产生本体论上的不安全感。为了实例化该理论，我将重点放在伊朗及其核行为上，认为它代表了旨在实现本体安全的“薄修正主义”案例，但这也带来了产生本体不安全的不良后果。该案例进一步揭示了寻求本体论安全的局限性，表明修正主义的程度通常受到对生存威胁的存在恐惧的制约。争辩说，它代表了一种旨在获得本体安全的“薄修正主义”案例，但这也带来了产生本体不安全的不良后果。该案例进一步揭示了寻求本体论安全的局限性，表明修正主义的程度通常受到对生存威胁的存在恐惧的制约。争辩说，它代表了一种旨在获得本体安全的“薄修正主义”案例，但这也带来了产生本体不安全的不良后果。该案例进一步揭示了寻求本体论安全的局限性，表明修正主义的程度通常受到对生存威胁的存在恐惧的制约。