20.500.12556/RUL-178332 Must Great Power Politics Necessarily Be Tragic? Li (力) and De (德) as Two Paradigms of Power Ali mora biti politika velikih sil nujno tragična? Li (力) in de (德) kot dve paradigmi moči This text contrasts two perspectives of power. The first is represented by John Mear­sheimer’s “realism”, under which, power is only real when it is coercive, military might and which is comparable to the concept of li (力) in traditional Chinese political theory. This paper presents an alternative conception of power—de (德)—a non-coercive power achieved through co-empowerment. It is only under the first conception of power that forces us to the conclusion that great power competition must necessarily be tragic. This paper elucidates the governing logics of both accounts of power and shows how they have animated political life in both the European-Western and Sinitic contexts. Central to the de conception of power is the concept of min (民)—the subject of the de conception of political power. We can see an early Chinese transition from “Heaven” as the source of political power to that of the min. This paper closes with observations on the parallels between the de account of power with agriculturalism and an organicist mentality that is defining of Chinese civilization. In contrast, it draws parallels between the li account of power and the overwhelmingly “nomadic” forms of life that characterize European civilization. Besedilo primerja dve perspektivi moči. Prvo predstavlja »realizem« Johna Mearsheimer-ja, po katerem je moč resnična le, kadar gre za (prisilno) vojaško silo, ki jo je mogoče primerjati s pojmom li (力) v tradicionalni kitajski politični teoriji. V nasprotju s to pa članek predstavi alternativno pojmovanje moči – de (德) – neprisilno moč, doseženo s soopolnomočenjem. Le prva koncepcija moči nas sili v sklep, da mora biti tekmovanje velikih sil nujno tragično. Članek pojasnjuje vodilni logiki obeh pojmovanj moči in po-kaže, kako sta navdihovali politično življenje tako v evropsko-zahodnem kot v sinitskem kontekstu. Osrednje mesto v koncepciji moči de ima pojem min (民) – subjekt koncepcije politične moči de. Opazimo lahko zgodnji kitajski prehod od »Neba« kot izvora politične moči k pojmu min. Članek se zaključi z ugotovitvami o vzporednicah med razlagami moči de in poljedelstvom ter organicistično miselnostjo, ki določa kitajsko civilizacijo. Po drugi strani pa oriše vzporednice med razlago moči li in pretežno »nomadskimi« ob-likami življenja, ki zaznamujejo evropsko civilizacijo. China international relations politics realism great power competition Kitajska mednarodni odnosi politika realizem tekmovanje velikih sil true false false Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-01-23 10:08:03 2026-01-23 10:08:06 2026-01-27 15:26:39 0000-00-00 00:00:00 0 0 0 Str. 143-173 no. 1 Vol. 14 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-01-09 2232-5131 2350-4226 https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2026.14.1.143-173 RAZ_Xiang_Shuchen_0.pdf RAZ_Xiang_Shuchen_0.pdf 1 D18BC2929B5E637CA51940BA82A46268 d7ecf39ad4dc4c0a041bbff964a6acc344f54eacbd20513b9db8e794878d9cbd c1674438-f83b-11f0-a1ba-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=226083 https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/23419 0 2d215382-fb8c-11f0-a1ba-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=226297 Filozofska fakulteta 0 0 0