The Dual Effect of Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy on Domestic and Inter

China has shifted its foreign policy from careful diplomacy to “wolf warrior diplomacy” (WWD). This book project asks: What are the domestic and international consequences of China’s WWD? I argue that WWD constitutes a form of ingroup/outgroup discourse, encompassing pride rhetoric, humiliation rhetoric, and defamatory rhetoric. WWD increases the Chinese public’s support for their government. However, foreign audiences are likely to view
WWD as aggressive and threatening; as a result, WWD has dual effects, increased security for the regime at the domestic level and heightened tensions at the international level. I first employ machine learning models to analyze the usage of Chinese diplomatic discourses over the past two
decades. The results of these models indicate a significant increase in the usage of wolf-warrior rhetoric, particularly since 2012 when President Xi Jinping assumed power.

To examine the dual effects of WWD, I conducted preregistered parallel experiments, in which I presented identical
sets of survey vignettes to Chinese and American citizens. The results show that WWD significantly increases the Chinese public’s support for their government. However, this diplomatic rhetoric also antagonizes the U.S. public and bolsters their support for aggressive foreign policies toward China. These findings contribute to our understanding of the dual effects of authoritarian diplomacy in the global arena where national leaders face a trade-off between
domestic stability and international instability.