Participant Biographies

Zhao Quansheng

Zhao Quansheng

Professor of International Relations and Chair of Asian Studies Research Council, American University
Plenary Session IV - "The Outlier: North Korea"

Prof. Zhao Quansheng is a professor of international relations and Chair of Asian Studies Program Research Council at American University. He has served as Director of the Division of Comparative and Regional Studies for three terms (1999-2008). A specialist in international relations and comparative politics focusing on East Asia, Prof. 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 edited book is Managing the China Challenge: Perspectives from the Globe. Prof. Zhao spent one year each as 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, such as the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Fudan University, Korea University and many others. He testified on China’s economic development for the U.S. Congress and served as a consultant for the United Nations. He is also a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. After one-year of postdoctoral research at Harvard University, he worked as a Research Associate at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for East Asian Research. Prof. Zhao received his B.A. from Peking University, M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.