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Photograph of Quansheng Zhao

Quansheng Zhao Professor Foreign Policy & Global Security

Additional Positions at AU
Chair, Asian Studies Research Council
Degrees
PhD, University of California, Berkeley; MA, University of California, Berkeley; BA, Peking University

Bio
Dr. Quansheng Zhao is Professor of international relations and Chair of Asian Studies Research Council at American University, serving as Director of the Division of Comparative and Regional Studies for three terms (1999-2008). Zhao received his B.A. from Peking University, M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. After a one-year postdoctoral research at Harvard University, he served for many years as Research Associate at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for East Asian Research.

A specialist in international relations and comparative politics focusing on East Asia, Dr. Zhao is the author of Interpreting Chinese Foreign Policy (Oxford University Press, winner of the Best Academic Book Award by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Korea), and Japanese Policymaking (Oxford University Press/Praeger, selected as "Outstanding Academic Book" by Choice). His most recent book is Great Power Strategies: China, the United States, and Japan (Routledge, https://www.routledge.com/Great-Power-Strategies---The-United-States-China-and-Japan/Zhao/p/book/9781032287850 ). His books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Dr. Zhao spent one year each as a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo and Harvard University, a Senior Fellow at the U. S. Institute of Peace in Washington and the East-West Center in Hawaii. As a visiting professor, he taught courses at a number of leading universities both in the U. S. and overseas, such as Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Peking University, Fudan University, Nanjing University, Korea University, Ritsumeikan University, Aoyama Gakuin University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Leiden University. Professor Zhao has testified on China’s high-speed railway system at the U. S. Congress, and served as a consultant for the United Nations. He is also Coordinator for the Global Forum of Chinese Political Scientists, Editor of Global China (an online journal), and a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Teaching

Spring 2024

  • SIS-676 Sel Topics in Cross-Natl Study: Great Power: Us, China, Japan

  • SISU-419 Senior Capstone: Int'l Studies: U.S.Foreign Pol Toward E.Asia