SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Uluslararası Afro-Avrasya Araştırmaları Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 11 Sayı: 22

THE REVOLVING DOOR POLICY IN THE CONTEXT OF CHINA’S IR THEORY-BUILDING STRATEGY

ÇİN MERKEZLİ ULUSLARARASI İLİŞKİLER TEORİLERİ GELİŞTİRME STRATEJİSİ BAĞLAMINDA DÖNER KAPI POLİTİKASI

Elif İlhamoğlu(İSTANBUL ÜNİVERSİTESİ, SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ, SİYASET BİLİMİ VE ULUSLARARASI İLİŞKİLER (DR))0009-0004-9010-9807
Hasan Duran(İSTANBUL ÜNİVERSİTESİ, SİYASAL BİLGİLER FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0001-5328-9918
Pages
18–35
Publication Date
2026-02-01
DOI
—
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

It also evaluates the institutionalization of the “revolving door” policy—the permeability among academia, policymaking, and think tanks—and its role in China’s pursuit of global discourse power.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:The rise of China’s economic and political weight on the global stage in the twenty-first century has been accompanied by a systematic transformation of its intellectual and academic spheres.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Shaped since the advent of the post-1978 reform and opening-up policies, this transformation has moved toward institutionalization particularly since the 2000s.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:It also evaluates the institutionalization of the “revolving door” policy—the permeability among academia, policymaking, and think tanks—and its role in China’s pursuit of global discourse power.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Uluslararası ilişkiler · Çin · Düşünce Kuruluşları

Abstract

The rise of China’s economic and political weight on the global stage in the twenty-first century has been accompanied by a systematic transformation of its intellectual and academic spheres. Shaped since the advent of the post-1978 reform and opening-up policies, this transformation has moved toward institutionalization particularly since the 2000s. To craft its own narrative in response to West-centric international relations and foreign policy discourses that label China a “threat,” the Communist Party of China (CPC) has made think tanks and academia integral to state policy. This focus has concentrated on the discipline of International Relations (IR). With the aim of enabling China to explain itself and propose an “alternative” model, top state authorities have promoted the development of IR theories with Chinese characteristics, launching state-backed projects and dedicated budgets. Think tanks have become the central pillar of this process. This article examines the development of think tanks in China, their integration with academia, their position within the state apparatus, and their effects on the discipline of International Relations. It also evaluates the institutionalization of the “revolving door” policy—the permeability among academia, policymaking, and think tanks—and its role in China’s pursuit of global discourse power.

Özet

21. yüzyılda Çin'in küresel alanda ekonomik ve siyasi ağırlığının artması, bu ülkenin entelektüel ve akademik alanlarda da sistematik dönüşümünü beraberinde getirmiştir. 1978 sonrası reform ve dışa açılma politikalarının başlangıcından itibaren şekillenen bu entelektüel dönüşüm süreci, özellikle 2000'li yıllarda kurumsallaşma aşamasına girmiştir. Çin Komünist Partisi (ÇKP), Çin’i “tehdit” ilan eden Batı merkezli uluslararası ilişkiler ve dış politika anlatısına karşı kendi anlatısını oluşturmak amacıyla, düşünce kuruluşlarını ve akademiyi devlet politikasının önemli bir parçası haline getirmiştir. Bu ilgi özellikle Uluslararası İlişkiler (Uİ) disiplinine yoğunlaşmış ve Çin’in kendini açıklamasını ve dünyaya “alternatif” bir model sunmasını sağlamak amacıyla Çin’e özgü Uluslararası İlişkiler teorileri geliştirme hedefi en üst resmi makamlar tarafından da lanse edilerek, bu çalışmalar için devlet destekli projeler geliştirilmiş ve özel bütçeler oluşturulmuştur. Düşünce kuruluşları sürecin en önemli parçası haline gelmiştir. Makalede, Çin'de düşünce kuruluşlarının (think tank) gelişimi, akademi ile olan entegrasyonu, devlet mekanizması içindeki konumu ve Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplinine olan etkileri incelenmektedir. Ayrıca, “döner kapı” politikası olarak adlandırılan akademi-politika-düşünce kuruluşu geçişkenliğinin kurumsallaşma süreci ve Çin'in küresel söylem mücadelesindeki rolü değerlendirilmektedir.

🔖

Cite This Article

İlhamoğlu, E., Duran, H. (2026). THE REVOLVING DOOR POLICY IN THE CONTEXT OF CHINA’S IR THEORY-BUILDING STRATEGY. Uluslararası Afro-Avrasya Araştırmaları Dergisi, Cilt: 11 Sayı: 22, 18–35. https://ajindex.com/articles/1564119

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (52)

  1. ABB, P. (2013). China’s Foreign Policy Think Tanks: Changing Roles and Structural Conditions. GIGA Research Unit: Institute of Asian Studies, No. 213.
  2. ACHARYA, A. (2014). Global International Relations (IR) and Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for International Studies. International Studies Quarterly, Volume 58, Issue 4, ss. 647–659.
  3. ALLISON, G. T. (2017). Destined for War? The National Interest, No. 149, ss. 9-21.
  4. ARIZA, R.; DANILO, E.; NESTOR, G. (2024). The revolving doors in academia, government and think tanks: Colombian neoliberal economists as a case study, ZÖSS Discussion Paper, No. 107, Universität Hamburg, Zentrum für Ökonomische und Soziologische Studien (ZÖSS), Hamburg.
  5. BİLGİN, P.; LING, L.H.M. (2017). Asia in International Relations Unlearning Imperial Power Relations. Routledge.
  6. BUZAN, B. (2010). China in International Society: Is ‘Peaceful Rise’ Possible? The Chinese Journal of International Politics, 3, ss. 5–36.
  7. CASARINI, N. (2015). The role of think tanks in China. In The EU–China Relationship: European Perspectives. World Scientific, ss. 88–97.
  8. CHAGUAN (2019). China says it wants more “independent” think-tanks. (2019, 14 Mart). The Economist. Erişim Adresi: https://www.economist.com/china/2019/03/14/china-says-it-wants-more-independent-think-tanks
  9. CHEN, D. (2016). How Academia Can Help Build Trust Between China and the World. (2016, 5 Haziran). The Diplomat. Erişim Adresi: https://thediplomat.com/2016/06/how-academia-can-help-build-trust-between-china-and-the-world/
  10. BULL, H. (1972). The theory of international politics 1919–1969. In B. Porter (Ed.), The Aberystwyth papers: International politics 1919–1969 (30–55). London: Oxford University Press.
  11. GODEHARDT, N. (2016). No End of History A Chinese Alternative Concept of International Order? SWP Research Paper, Berlin.
  12. HOFFMANN, S. (1997). An American Social Science: International Relations. Daedalus, Vol. 106, No. 3, Discoveries and Interpretations: Studies in Contemporary Scholarship, Volume I (Summer, 1977), ss. 41-60.
  13. HUANG, Y. (2015). China's Think-Tank Great Leap Forward. (2015, 28 Eylül). Forbes. Erişim Adresi: https://www.forbes.com/sites/yanzhonghuang/2015/09/28/chinas-think-tank-great-leap-forward/
  14. IKENBERRY, G. J., WANG, J., & ZHU, F. (2015). America, China, and the Struggle for World Order: Ideas, Traditions, Historical Legacies, and Global Visions. Palgrave Macmillan.
  15. IKENBEYYR, G. J., (2011). The Future of the Liberal World Order: Internationalism After America. Foreign Affairs, May/June 2011. Erişim Adresi: (https://www.foreignaffairs.com/future-liberal-world-order)
  16. KUMAR, S. (2018). Theorising Chinese International Relations and the Rise of China: A Preliminary Investigation. Relaciones Internacionales, 27(54), 23–32.
  17. LI, C. (2009). China’s New Think Tanks: Where Officials, Entrepreneurs, and Scholars Interact. (2009, 14 Ağustos). The Brookings Institution. Erişim Adresi: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/chinas-new-think-tanks-where-officials-entrepreneurs-and-scholars-interact/
  18. LI, C. (2017). Power of Ideas: The Rising Influence of Thinkers and Think Tanks in China. World Scientific Publishing Company.
  19. LI, C.; XU, L. (2017). Chinese think tanks: A new “revolving door” for elite recruitment. (2017, 10 Şubat). The Brookings Institution. Erişim Adresi: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/chinese-think-tanks-a-new-revolving-door-for-elite-recruitment/
  20. MCGANN, J. G. (2021). 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. TTCSP Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports, University of Pennsylvania.
  21. MCGANN, J. G. (2016). The Fifth Estate: Think Tanks, Public Policy, and Governance. Brookings Institution Press.
  22. MEDEIROS, E. (2004). Agents of Influence: Assessing the Role of Chinese Foreign Policy Research Organizations After the 16th Party Congress. Civil-military change in China: elites, institutes, and ideas after the 16th Party Congress / edited by Andrew Scobell, Larry Wortzel (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, Army War College, 2004), chapter 9, 279-307.
  23. MEARSHEIMER, J. J. (2019). Bound to Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Liberal International Order. International Security, 43(4), 7–50.
  24. MEARSHEIMER, J. J. (2001). The tragedy of great power politics. W. W. Norton & Company.
  25. MENEGAZZI, S. (2018). Rethinking Think Tanks in Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan Cham.
  26. NYE, J. S.; WELCH, D. A. (2021). Küresel Çatışmayı ve İşbirliğini Anlamak. Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul.
  27. QIN, Y. (2011). Development of International Relations Theory in China: Progress Through Debates. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 11, 231–257.
  28. QIN, Y. (2007). Why is There No Chinese IR Theory. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 7, no. 3.
  29. QIU, Z. (2015). From Academia to Politics: When Scholars Rule China. China Brief, 15(23). SHAMBAUGH, D. (2002). China’s International Relations Think Tanks: Evolving Structure and Process. The China Quarterly, 171, 575–596.
  30. TANNER, M. S. (2002). Changing Windows on a Changing China: The Evolving “Think Tank” System and the Case of the Public Security Sector. The China Quarterly, 171, 559–574.
  31. TAMMEN, R. L.; KUGLER, J. (2006). Power Transition and China–US Conflicts. The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Volume 1, Issue 1, Summer 2006, ss. 35–55.
  32. TICKNER, A. B.; BLANEY, D. L. (2012). Thinking International Relations Differently. Routledge.
  33. WALTZ, K.; FEARON, J. (2012). A Conversation with Kenneth Waltz. Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 15:1-12.
  34. WANG, Y. (2009) “China: Between Copying and Constructing,” in Tickner and Waever, International Relations Scholarship Around The World. Routledge, 103. 12.
  35. WU, D. D. (2017). What Kind of Think Tanks Does China Want to Establish? (2017, 5 Mayıs). The Diplomat Dergisi. Erişim Adresi: (https://thediplomat.com/2017/05/what-kind-of-think-tanks-does-china-want-to-establish/)
  36. Yan, X. (2018). Academic Research on International Relations in the Last Forty Years since the Beginning of Economic Opening and Reform. Erişim Adresi: (http://www.aisixiang.com/data/114932.html)
  37. YILDIRIM, ELİKÜÇÜK, N. (2018, Haziran). Statü, Kimlik ve Sosyal Hiyerarşi: Çin Akademisindeki Uluslararası Strateji Tartışmaları. Doktora Tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
  38. ZHANG, Y. (2020). The Chinese School, Global Production of Knowledge, and Contentious Politics in the Disciplinary IR. University of Bristol.
  39. ZHANG, W. (2012). The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State. World Century Publishing Corporation.
  40. ZHAO, T. (2011). The Tianxia System: An Introduction to the Philosophy of a World Institution, China Renmin University Press.
  41. ZHU, X. (2009). The Influence of Think Tanks in the Chinese Policy Process: Different Ways and Mechanisms. Asian Survey, 49(2), ss. 333–357.
  42. ZHU, X. (2013). The Rise of Think Tanks in China. China policy series; 28, Routledge.
  43. ZHU, X., & XUE, L. (2007). Think Tanks in Transitional China. Public Administration and Development, 27(5), 452–464.
  44. ZHU, X. (2020). Think tanks in politically embedded knowledge regimes: Does the “revolving door” matter in China? International Review of Administrative Sciences, 86(2), 295–315.
  45. China Education Center. Erişim Tarihi: (1 Ekim 2025). Erişim Adresi: https://www.chinaeducenter.com/en/cedu/ceduproject211.php
  46. China Focus: Xi calls for developing China into world science and technology leader. (2018, 29 Mayıs). Xinhua Haber Ajansı. Erişim Tarihi: (29 Eylül 2025). Erişim Adresi: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/29/c_137213175.htm
  47. Devlet Konseyi'nin, Dünya Çapında Birinci Sınıf Üniversiteler ve Birinci Sınıf Disiplinlerin Koordineli Gelişimini Hedefleyen Genel Planın Yayımlanmasına İlişkin Bildirisi. (2015, 5 Kasım). Çin Hükümeti Resmi Web Sitesi. Erişim Tarihi: (29 Eylül 2025). Erişim Adresi: https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2015-11/05/content_10269.htm)
  48. Xi calls for new type of think tanks. (2014, 27 Ekim). Xinhua Haber Ajansı. Erişim Tarihi: (29 Eylül 2025). Erişim Adresi: (https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/888538.shtml)
  49. Xi Jinping’in Ağ Güvenliği ve Bilgi Teknolojisi Sempozyumu’ndaki Konuşması. (2016, 19 Nisan). Xinhua Haber Ajansı. Erişim Tarihi: (1 Ekim 2025). Erişim Adresi: (http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-04/25/c_1118731175.htm)
  50. Yüksek düzeyde bir bakış açısı, net bir yönelim, kesin bir odak noktası ve dinamik mekanizmalara sahip yeni bir tür düşünce kuruluşu kurmak. (2015, 12 Kasım). Guangming Daily. Erişim Tarihi: (1 Ekim 2025). Erişim Adresi: (http://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2015-11/12/nw.D110000gmrb_20151112_1-02.htm?div=-1)
  51. ZAKARIA, F. (2021). Fareed Zakaria Hosts CHINA’s IRON FIST: Xi Jinping and the Stakes for America. CNN. Erişim Tarihi: (19 Kasım 2025). Erişim Adresi: (https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2021/11/18/fareed-zakaria-hosts-chinas-iron-fist-xi-jinping-and-the-stakes-for-america/)
  52. MEDEIROS, E. (2004). Agents of Influence: Assessing the Role of Chinese Foreign Policy Research Organizations After the 16th Party Congress. Civil-military change in China: elites, institutes, and ideas after the 16th Party Congress / edited by Andrew Scobell, Larry Wortzel (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, Army War College, 2004), chapter 9, 279-307.