Despite its relative stability since the end of World War II, the international system today is confronting multiple mounting challenges, such as climate change, the return of mercantilist policies, and a re-intensification of great power competition.
The CSCC “Global China” research cluster examines China’s potential and actual role in this changing landscape, such as its continued engagement with the Global South, leadership in the green energy transition, growing diplomatic reach, and stewardship of the current global governance infrastructure.
Cheon’s Fueling State Capitalism examines foreign oil and gas investments by state-owned enterprises in China and other state capitalist economies from 2000 to 2013. Using a principal-agent model, he shows how a country’s regime type conditions the frequency of investments. Bureaucratic structure, specifically whether there is a clear line of authority, explains the commercial quality of the deals. His recent research explores intensifying U.S.–China competition, examining industrial policy targeting dual-use technology development and global infrastructure partnerships for transition minerals.
Coraline Goron is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy, Duke Kunshan University. Dr. Coraline Goron obtained a double Ph.D. degree in Political Science from the University of Warwick and the Université Libre de Bruxelles under the aegis of the Erasmus Mundus GEM program. Before joining DKU, Coraline was a postdoctoral research fellow funded by the Wiener-Anspach Foundation at the University of Oxford China Centre.
David Landry is a professor of international political economy at Duke Kunshan University and a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University. He is an expert on Chinese government finance and natural resource investments around the world. In addition to publishing his research in academic journals, he has written in The Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, Foreign Policy, and Foreign Affairs. His book “Mineral Kingdoms: Underground Riches and the Fate of Nations” will be published by Penguin in 2027.
Paula Ganga is an Assistant Professor of Political Economy at Duke Kunshan University. Her research and teaching explore the economic consequences of illiberalism, the developmental impact of foreign aid, corruption, and the role of technology. She is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the connection between economic nationalism and populism in Europe. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Georgetown University, and degrees in politics and governance from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in her hometown of Iași, Romania, and Oxford University, where she was a Chevening Fellow.
Dr. Puyang Li is an interdisciplinary geographer specializing in land systems, sustainability science, and China’s role in South-South cooperation. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Arizona State University and has worked with global development programs. His research examines how China’s overseas land transactions and development cooperation shape food security, smallholder wellbeing, and ecosystem services across diverse regions worldwide, as well as their connections to broader systems across spatiotemporal and institutional scales.
Jennifer Turner is a Visiting Professor of public policy, teaching a Climate Communication Writing Course for the past two years. She obtained a joint degree in Environmental Policy and Comparative Politics at Indiana University. She has been leading China energy, environment and climate research and convenings in Washington DC think tanks for 26 years. Her current research projects focus on China's clean energy and critical mineral investments in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
Yuan Wang is an Assistant Professor at the National School of Development, Peking University and Adjunct Assistant Professor at CSCC, Duke Kunshan University. She received her DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford and previously served as Assistant Professor of International Relations at Duke Kunshan University (2022-2025). Her teaching and research interests include global China, African politics, and the comparative political economy of development. Wang is the author of The Railpolitik (Oxford University Press, 2023). Her work has also appeared in leading journals, including Comparative Politics, Review of International Political Economy, World Development, and The China Quarterly.
Chunni (Dorothy) Song is a Research Fellow in International Relations at Duke Kunshan University. Her research interests include international political economy, industrial policy, and global energy transitions, with a current focus on critical minerals and infrastructure investment. She holds an M.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University SAIS and a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University. Prior to joining DKU, she worked as a Digital Editor at CGTN (China Global Television Network). Her articles have appeared in Public Diplomacy Quarterly, People's Daily Overseas Edition, Guangming Online, and CGTN.