Assistant Professor
Contact Information
kzhang20@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-4983
Mason Square, Van Metre Hall, Room 669
3351 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
MSN: 3B1
Personal Websites
Biography
Ketian Vivian Zhang is an assistant professor of international security in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
She studies rising powers, coercion, economic statecraft, and maritime disputes in international relations and social movements in comparative politics, with a regional focus on China and East Asia. Zhang bridges the study of international relations and comparative politics and has a broader theoretical interest in linking international security and international political economy.
Her research agenda emphasizes how globalized production and supply chains affect states' foreign policy and domestic state-society relations, especially regarding coercion and protests. Zhang's book project examines when, why, and how China uses coercion when faced with issues of national security, such as territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas, foreign arms sales to Taiwan, and foreign leaders’ reception of the Dalai Lama.
She received her PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018, and is also a proud badger.