Senior Lecturer in International Relations & Director of the Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

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I am a senior lecturer at John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) where I focus on developments in China's foreign and security policy. I also direct the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute. My career has centered on China and US-China relations, including my recent positions as Senior Expert for China at the United States Institute of Peace and as Chair in US-China relations at the Library of Congress. While at SAIS, I've had the chance to serve as associate director of the China program and interim American co-director of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. In the past, I have also worked on evaluating political and business risk in Asia, developed programs to foster civil society and community sustainability, and held a variety of teaching positions and research fellowships. The latter included spending much of a year as a visiting scholar at Harvard's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, serving as a fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and affiliating as a Peace Scholar with the US Institute of Peace when I was completing my dissertation. I am a nonresident senior fellow at the Institute of Security and Development Policy and a member of the advisory council of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP).

I received a PhD in International Relations and Asian Studies from Johns Hopkins SAIS, also completing a master's in International Economics and China Studies. My BA is in history and Southeast Asian studies (with honors) from Yale University and a certificate in politics with honors from Sciences Po in Paris. I also have certificates in Chinese from Beijing Foreign Languages University and the Taipei Language Institute and have done additional graduate work in conflict management.

I was previously the editor-in-chief of the academic journal Asian Perspective, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, and now serve on its editorial board.

Most recent articles and book chapters

With Selina Ho and Xue Gong "China’s Interventions in ‘Gray Special Economic Zones’ in Southeast Asia’s Borderlands," Journal of Contemporary China, March 30, 2025.

“Damming the River by Feeling the Stones: External Shocks and Policy Adaptation in China’s Mekong Hydropower Policy,” with Jessica C. Liao, The Pacific Review, December 1-30, 2024.

China’s Global Security Initiative Takes Shape in Southeast and Central Asia, with Bates Gill and Alison McFarland, Special Report, US Institute of Peace (November 2024).

With Roger Raufer et al., “Climate Policy and Emissions Trading in China.” In M. Lackner, et al, (eds) Handbook of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. (Springer, 2024; 2022; 2016).

China and the Reshaping of Global Conflict Prevention Norms, with Bates Gill and Alison McFarland, US Institute of Peace, (September 2023).

“China and Strategic Instability in Space,” The Diplomat (edited interview format), May 3, 2023.

Special Report: China and Strategic Instability in Space: Pathways to Peace in an Era of US-China Strategic Competition, with Bruce MacDonald and Alison McFarland, US Institute of Peace, February 2023.

“What Does It Mean That China Is the First Country to Land on the Dark Side of the Moon?.” The China Questions 2: Critical Insights into US-China Relations, (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2022): 321-329.

US-China Signaling, Action-Reaction Dynamics, and Taiwan: A Preliminary Examination, with Andrew Scobell, Yuqun Shao et al., US Institute of Peace, (September 2022).

"China’s Periphery: A Rift Zone in US-China Relations.” in Anne Thurston, (ed.), Engaging China, (Columbia University Press, 2021).

"The New Asia," Focus Asia, February 2021.

"Reading Kindleberger in Beijing: Xi Jinping's China as a Provider of Global Public Goods," British Journal of Politics and International Relations, (September, 2020).

"Constructive Engagement? The US and the AIIB,“ Global Policy (December 2019).

"From Threats to Opportunities" Nontraditional Security Challenges and Sino-American Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific," in The US and China in Asia: Mitigating Tensions and Enhancing Cooperation, Pacific Community Initiative, Washington DC, (October 2019).

"An Uncommon Approach to the Global Commons: China's Divergent Positions on Maritime and Outer Space Governance," China Quarterly (On-line, June 2019).

“Assessing Prospects for Regional Cooperation in the China- India Neighborhood,” Contemporary Politics (December 2017 – online; 2018).

“China-Korea Relations,” in Weiping Wu, Mark Frazier et al., Research Handbook of Contemporary China, (Sage, 2018).

“New Strategies for an Old Rivalry: China and Russia in Central Asia after the Boom,” Pacific Review (November 2017).

“Dam Diplomacy: China’s Periphery Policy and Hydropolitics,” Water International, (1.19.2017; Issue 2).

"What’s Next for Global Governance?,” with Gregory T. Chin, Global Policy, (November 2016).

“The Fragile Commons in a World in Transition,” The SAIS Review of International Affairs, (Vol. 36, Winter-Spring, 2016).

“Building an Energy Cooperation Regime in Northeast Asia.” in Bo Kong and Jae Ku (eds.), Energy Security Cooperation in Northeast Asia, (Routledge, 2015).

“China as an Environmental Actor in the Developing World—China’s Role in Deforestation and the Timber Trade in Developing Countries.” with Sunny Yiqian Xu in C. Freeman (ed.). Handbook of China and Developing Countries (Edward Elgar, 2015).

“Making Sense of China’s Carbon Markets.” with Bo Kong, Carbon & Climate Law Review, (Vol. 3, 2013).

“From ‘Blood Transfusion’ to ‘Harmonious Development:’ The Political Economy of Fiscal Allocations to China’s Ethnic Regions.” Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, (January 2013).

“Neighborly Relations: The Tumen Development Project and China’s Security Strategy.” Journal of Contemporary China, (Vol. 19. 63, January 2010).

“An Obama Grand Strategy? What does it mean for US-China relations.” China International Strategy Review,(2013; also published in Chinese).