China’s soft power in the Arctic, a means or an end

This thesis investigates how Chinese soft power in the Arctic is positioned, primarily as an instrumental means or an end in itself. Employing Carol Bacchi’s WPR approach and systems theory, it analyses China’s 2018 Arctic Policy and its discursive representation at global, regional, and bilateral/multilateral levels. The findings indicate that soft power facilitates institutional access and cooperation, while simultaneously shaping China’s identity as a responsible global actor. Discourses of sustainability, scientific objectivity, and mutual benefit normalise China’s presence and attenuate perceptions of strategic intent. At the global level, soft power operates normatively, constituting a multilayered mechanism of Arctic engagement. These global narratives are operationalised regionally, whereas at the bilateral/ multilateral levels soft power functions primarily in instrumental terms. At systemic level, it integrates discourse, institutional structures, and material engagement. Instrumentally, it enables scientific collaboration, institutional participation, and bilateral partnerships. As an end, it contributes to constructing China’s image as a responsible major power, reinforcing legitimacy and normative influence. Overall, soft power is predominantly instrumental at bilateral and multilateral levels, while its identity-building role functions as a strategic end within the normative domain.