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. In 2008, he was named as one of world's Top 100 Global Thinkers by the Foreign Policy. He is the only political scientist listed as Most Cited Chinese Researchers by Elsevier during 2014–2017.

Education

Yan holds a BA in English from Heilongjiang University (1982), a MA in international politics from Institute of International Relations, Beijing (1986), and a PhD in political science from University of California, Berkeley (1992). Yan studied with major figures of the Realist school of international relations, including Kenneth Waltz.

Career

Yan worked for more than two decades at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. He worked for several years at Tsinghua University, including as the dean of its Institute for International Relations. As of at least 2024, Yan is the secretary general of the World Peace Forum, which is one of China's most important international relations conferences.

Perspectives

Yan's analysis draws on Realist ideas from Western context and re-examines them in the context of historical Chinese theory. His views are associated with the Chinese school of international relations.

China's national interests

Yan's 1996 book Analysis of China's National Interests was the first Chinese-language book to systemically analyze the titular subject. 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.

Tianxia

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. 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.

Awards

Honors

Publications

Books

Editions English Articles