Dış Politika Analizinde Yumuşak Güç - Keskin Güç Karşılaştırması: Çin Örneği

The concept of power is one the most studied notions in the international relations discipline, which is being debated from divergent angles. Especially since the end of the Cold War, the soft power concept became one of the main discussion topics in this context. In a time when the world’s economic and political center of gravity is shifting towards Asia-Pacific region, China’s actual and eventual soft power instruments has also become a crucial discussion topic. Nevertheless, the claims according to which China’s and similar regimes’ soft power methods are too agressive to be labeled as ‘soft’ inspired a new conceptualisation attempt, the sharp power. The article aims at tackling the international context that boosted this debate, as well as different problematic aspects of the sharp power notion by tackling the China case.