Yan Xuetong (born 7 December 1952) is a Chinese political scientist and serves as a distinguished professor and dean of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University. Yan is one of the major Chinese figures in the study of international relations (IR). He is the founder of 'moral realism', a neoclassical realist theoretical paradigm in IR theory. His moral realist theory is based on political determinism.[2]
Yán Xuétōng | |
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阎学通 | |
Born | Tianjin, China | December 7, 1952
Nationality | Chinese |
Education | PhD Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, 1992
MA International Politics, University of International Relations, 1986 |
Occupation(s) | Professor, dean |
Political party | Chinese Communist Party[1] |
In 2008, he was named as one of world's Top 100 Global Thinkers by the Foreign Policy.[3] He is the only political scientist listed as Most Cited Chinese Researchers by Elsevier during 2014–2017.[4]
Yan holds a BA in English from Heilongjiang University (1982),[5] a MA in international politics from Institute of International Relations, Beijing (1986),[5] and a PhD in political science from University of California, Berkeley (1992).[5]
Yan's 1996 book Analysis of China's National Interests was the first Chinese-language book to systemically analyze the titular subject.[6] The book became significant among Chinese audiences for its argument that China should prioritize its own national interests in foreign policy, instead of the more traditional arguments that China should prioritize class interests or proletarian internationalism in its foreign policy.[7]
In the Group of Two relationship, China is the only power of the world with the potential to challenge the hegemony of United States in the world. On the contrary, only United States may hinder China from gaining hegemony or challenge the hegemony of China if China dominate the world in the future.
And the remaining challenger countries except the Group of Two in the world may only have the potential to compete for regional hegemony or challenge the challenger in Group of Two.
Yan writes that in the tianxia system of imperial China, rulers relied on humane authority (in contrast to tyranny and military force) to win the hearts and minds of the people.[8] Applying lessons from the tianxia system to a modern framework, Yan argues that great powers seeking international respect must use humane authority instead of seeking to impose hegemony.[8]
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English Articles