DOI: 10.46340/eppd.2025.12.6.3
Maia Gamsakhurdia, PhD in International Relations
Georgian Technical University, Georgia
Giorgi Chkhikvishvili, PhD in Social Sciences
Georgian Technical University, Georgia
How to cite: Gamsakhurdia, M., & Chkhikvishvili, G. (2025). AI Technologies and XI Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” – a New Paradigm of Soft Power. Evropský politický a právní diskurz, 12, 6, 55-60. https://doi.org/10.46340/eppd.2025.12.6.3
Abstract
The article analyses the geopolitical significance of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in international politics in relation to changes in the balance of political power; examines the interconnection between AI technologies and the ideological narrative of Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream”; discusses the processes through which AI ensures mechanisms of social system control; and demonstrates how the strategic alliance of AI technologies and the concept of the “Chinese Dream” creates a new paradigm of soft power that transforms the traditional understanding of soft power and, through the targeted and effective dissemination of selective information, ensures the effective global spread of the values of the “Chinese Dream.”
The research is based on case study methodology, documentary analysis, and discourse analysis, which makes it possible to as sess the interdependence between, on the one hand, AI technologies and the narrative of Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream,” and on the other hand, the new paradigm of soft power.
The relevance of the article is determined by the specific characteristics of the international political agenda of the twenty-first century, in which the role of any global actor in shaping the emerging world order is fundamentally linked to its technological capabilities – particularly to critical innovations such as artificial intelligence. Over the past decade, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has gradually emerged as a global leader in the development of artificial intelligence. The country has invested heavily in cutting-edge algorithms, built large-scale data infrastructures, and articulated a clear strategic objective – to become the world’s leading AI power by 2030, as outlined in the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan.
In democratic states, technological deployment is often slowed by legislative oversight, civil society monitoring, and regulatory constraints. In contrast, China has been able to leverage its authoritarian governance model, centralized decision-making, and Xi Jinping’s leadership style to accelerate AI development – advances that, in turn, contribute to the consolidation of China’s position within the emerging global order.
The relevance of the research is also determined by the discussion of the concept of a new paradigm of soft power, which, unlike Joseph Nye’s traditional theory of soft power, carries new, non-traditional content. It expands the boundaries of soft power, integrates AI and digital diplomacy into it, and, in the case of China, promotes the export of authoritarian technologies. The research aims to examine the role of AI technologies in the ideological narrative of Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” and, based on the correlation of these two variables, to analyse the specific features of the strategy of the new paradigm of soft power.
Keywords: Xi Jinping, political leadership, technological hegemony, artificial intelligence, centralized governance, state – corporate integration, data governance, AI policy, digital authoritarianism, China’s foreign policy.
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