What Do Chinese Scholars Think About IR? — Ferran Pérez Mena

This episode of The IR thinker examines the main contemporary schools of Chinese international relations theory with Dr Ferran Pérez Mena, focusing in particular on the Shanghai and Tsinghua schools, their theoretical foundations, key concepts such as moral realism and Chinese exceptionalism, and the ways in which they draw on traditional Chinese philosophy. The discussion explores how these ideas shape Chinese debates on economic statecraft, soft power, security and civilisational identity, and considers what this means for the future direction of China’s foreign policy and IR scholarship.Ferran Pérez MenaDr Ferran Pérez Mena is Assistant Professor in International Relations of East Asia in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University in the United Kingdom. His research focuses on transnational connections between Chinese and Western non state actors, the formation of non Western transnational elite networks, and the relationship between Chinese IR scholars, the Chinese state and the development of Chinese ideas about world politics and international order.Publications:Contender States and Modern Chinese International Thought: From the Republican era until the ‘Chinese School of International Relations’Farewell to revolution: the ‘Chinese School of IR’ and the depoliticisation of IR theory in post-Mao ChinaContent00:00 - Introduction02:41 - Major Contemporary Schools of Thought in Chinese International Relations04:47 - Importance of Shanghai and Tsinghua Universities05:45 - Acceptance of the Shanghai School of IR in China07:43 - Theoretical Foundation of the Shanghai School of IR11:10 - Key Actors in the Shanghai School of IR12:14 - Key Figures and Contributions of the Shanghai School14:49 - Overview of the Tsinghua School of IR16:22 - Influence of Yan Xuetong16:50 - Other IR Schools in China18:03 - Integration of Traditional Chinese Philosophy in IR Theories20:04 - Concept of Moral Realism21:53 - Application of Chinese Moral Realism Internationally23:38 - China’s Definition of Morality25:22 - Chinese Exceptionalism28:42 - Critique and Overlaps between Chinese and Western IR Theories34:10 - Role of Economic Statecraft in IR35:36 - Background of Economic Statecraft in China37:39 - Tsinghua School of IR and Soft Power39:21 - China’s Most Interesting Soft Power Instruments41:41 - Security in Chinese IR Schools44:14 - Publishing Security Issues in China45:38 - Civilizational Identity49:34 - Influence of Concepts and Theories on Chinese Foreign Policy53:30 - Ferran’s Book on Chinese IR Schools58:57 - Accessing Chinese Sources for the Book01:00:23 - Future of Chinese IR SchoolsFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ir-thinker/X: https://x.com/irthinker_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/irthinkerfb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.