Biography

JIAKUN JACK ZHANG is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas (KU) and Director of the KU Trade War Lab (TWL). He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at UC San Diego. His dissertation examines when and why economically interdependent countries use military versus economic coercion in foreign policy disputes. In 2018-2019, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University. He was selected to the eighth cohort of the National Committee on US-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program (PIP VIII) in 2023.

Jack holds a bachelor's degree in political science and a certificate in East Asian studies from Duke University, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of Duke East Asia Nexus and was a co-founder of the Duke-UNC China Leadership Summit. At UC San Diego, he served as the senior advisor to the 21st Century China Center’s China Focus Blog. Prior to coming to UC San Diego, Jack worked as a China researcher for the Eurasia Group and consulted for the Economist Intelligence Unit. Follow him on Twitter @HanFeiTzu. 

He was selected to the first cohort of Mansfield-Luce Asia Scholars in 2019 and to the 2021 class of the Wilson China Fellowship. He has been the recipient of various grants and awards, including a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to Peking University, the Minerva DECUR Partnership, the Smith Richardson Foundation World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship, the Charles Koch Foundation Dissertation Grant, the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation Herb York Dissertation Fellowship, the Sanford Lakoff Research Fellowship, the Ole R. Holsti Award in International Relations, Duke University Student Affairs Distinguished Leadership and Service Award, and the William J. Griffith University Service Award. He is an alumnus of the Bridging the Gap Scholar Network,  YPFP US-China Futures Project, CSIS Pacific Forum Young Leaders Program, the SAIS Summer Study, the Forum for American/Chinese Exchange at Stanford (FACES), and the Duke American Grand Strategy Program (AGS). He was named "25 Under 25 in US-China Relations" by China Hands in 2013. 

Jack hails from the city of champions: Pittsburgh, PA. He is a proud supporter of the Duke Blue Devils and Pittsburgh Steelers. When not geeking out about international affairs, Jack is an avid traveler, aspiring foodie, passionate gardener, and amateur artist.