China's Strategy in the Arctic: Normative Adaptation or Creative Destruction?
Öz
This article examines China’s policy toward the Arctic region from the perspective of normative power. The Arctic region is a strategic area where geopolitical opportunities and global governance norms intersect. Is China laying the groundwork for creative destruction in the Arctic, or is its goal simply reform? In light of these debates, the research focuses not on what China is, but on what it is becoming. By adopting cautious approaches to environmental sustainability and geopolitical opportunities, China is accumulating power in the Arctic without challenging existing norms. In other words, China is attempting to alter the outcome without violating the rules. The research hypothesis examines China’s political priorities in Arctic governance and argues that China’s approach to the Arctic is a revisionist process rather than a reformist challenge. China’s Arctic Policy aims to reshape normative emphases through existing institutions and legal frameworks rather than through direct confrontation or norm change. In line with this hypothesis, the research question is: Is China’s Arctic policy a process of normative adaptation compatible with international norms, or a norm-challenging strategy aimed at creating alternative norms?
Anahtar Kelimeler
Arctic Circle, Geopolitics, Normative Power, China, Creative Destruction
Kaynakça
- Acharya, A. (2004). “How Ideas Spread: Whose Norms Matter? Norm Localization and Institutional Change in Asian Regionalism”, International Organization, 58(2), 239-275.
- Biedermann, R. (2020). “The Polar Silk Road: China’s Multilevel Arctic Strategy to Globalize the Far North”, Contemporary Chinese Political and Strategic Relations, An International Journal, 6(2), 571-615.
- Carr, E.H. (1962). The Twenty Years’ Crisis 1919–1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations, 2nd Edn, London: Macmillan.
- Checkel, J. T. (2005). “International Institutions and Socialization in Europe: Introduction and Framework”, International Organization, 59(4), 801–826.
- Chen, Y. (2023). China’s Arctic Policy and Engagement, National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), 4, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27254614
- Damski, P. (2025). “Solidarism, Pluralism, or Beyond? Analysing U. S. Arctic Strategies (2013–2022) Through The Lens Of The English School”, Polish Political Science Review, https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/ppsr-2025-0003, (Access Date: 22.01.2026).
- Deitelhoff, N. and Zimmermann, L. (2020). “Norms Under Challenge: Unpacking the Dynamics of Norm Contestation”, Journal of Global Security Studies, 5(1), 1–17
- Duchêne, F. (1973). “The European Community and the Uncertainties of Interdependence”, (Eds. Kohnstamm, M. and Hager, W.), A Nation Writ Large? Foreign Policy Problems before the European Community (pp. 1-21), Basingstoke: Macmillan.
- Edstrøm, A. C., et al. (2025). “Cutting Through Narratives on Chinese Arctic Investments”, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, https://www.belfercenter.org/research-analysis/china-arctic-investments, (Access Date: 22.01.2026).
- Filippova, L. (2023). “China’s New Role in the Arctic”, Valdai Club, https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/china-s-new-role-in-the-arctic/, (Access Date: 22.01.2026).