Ideational Power in the International Arena in Action

China gradually gained ideational power through multiple state‐driven actors promoting policy ideas internationally. Applying Béland's ideational power framework, ideas are traced across international actors and institutions to assess how they become embedded in international discourse and institutional practice. Rather than focusing exclusively on the material dimensions of power, the article analyzes the ideational mechanisms through which China seeks to influence the preferences and beliefs of other actors in the international arena. China's foreign policy, particularly in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is used as a case study to analyze how policy ideas are promoted internationally through discourse, institutional engagement, and transnational think tank networks. Methodologically, the study combines discourse analysis and an in‐depth case study based on institutional documents, policy texts, and interviews. The analysis traces ideas across actors and over time by cross‐relating actors and ideas and by placing the findings on a timeline to gain processual insight into ideational acts and outcomes. China's ideational power is measured through the extent to which Chinese ideas travel across actors, are taken up in discourse, and become embedded in institutional documents and practices. The findings show that Chinese state‐linked think tanks emerge as central actors in conveying and legitimizing policy narratives internationally and in co‐opting non‐Chinese actors and expert communities in the process of promoting Chinese ideas abroad. The UN has integrated Chinese ideas into international discourse and institutional practice, particularly in the context of connectivity and sustainable development. The article contributes to ideationalist scholarship by demonstrating how ideational power can be empirically traced across international institutions and actor communities.