Wuthnow, Joel

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Areas of Expertise:  China; Asia-Pacific Region

Dr. Joel Wuthnow is a research fellow in the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs within the Institute for National for Strategic Studies at NDU. His research areas include Chinese foreign and security policy, Chinese military affairs, U.S.-China relations, and strategic developments in East Asia. In addition to his duties in INSS, he also serves as an adjunct professor in both the Eisenhower School at NDU and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. 

Prior to joining NDU, Dr. Wuthnow was a China analyst at CNA, a postdoctoral fellow in the China and the World Program at Princeton University, and a pre-doctoral fellow at The Brookings Institution. His research has appeared in journals such as The China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, Asian Security, Asia Policy, Journal of Strategic Studies, Chinese Journal of International Politics, and Joint Force Quarterly, as well as in NDU’s China Strategic Perspectives monograph series. He is also the author of a book, Chinese Diplomacy and the UN Security Council (Routledge).

Dr. Wuthnow holds degrees from Princeton University (A.B., summa cum laude, in Public and International Affairs), Oxford University (M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies), and Columbia University (Ph.D. in Political Science). He is proficient in Mandarin. 

Email: joel.wuthnow.civ@ndu.edu 

Recent Publications:  

Books and Monographs

• Chinese Perspectives on the Belt and Road Initiative: Strategic Rationales, Risks, and Implications (NDU, October 2017) 
• Chinese Military Reforms in the Age of Xi Jinping: Drivers, Challenges, and Implications (NDU, March 2017) (with Phillip. C. Saunders) 
• Water Resource Competition in the Brahmaputra River Basin (CNA, May 2016) (with Satu Limaye and Nilanthi Samaranayake)
• Chinese Diplomacy and the UN Security Council (Routledge; paperback 2015) 

Commentary 

• "President Trump, Don't Forget the United Nations," East Asia Forum, November 3, 2018
• "Why China Discounts the Indo-Pacific Quad," PacNet #55, August 7, 2018
• "Doklam, One Year Later: China's Long Game in the Himalayas," War on the Rocks, June 7, 2018 (with Satu Limaye and Nilanthi Samaranayake) 
• "From Friend to Foe-ish: Washington's Negative Turn on the Belt and Road Initiative," The Asan Forum 6:3 (May-June 2018)
• "Major Progress and Unfinished Business: China's Military Under Xi Jinping," Global Asia 13:1 (Spring 2018, with Phillip C. Saunders), 13-17 
• "China's Overseas Basing: Will the PLA Follow the Renminbi?" The National Interest, February 17, 2018
• "China's Military Has a Discipline Problem. Here Is How Xi Jinping Is Trying to Fix It," The National Interest, November 12, 2017 (with Phillip C. Saunders) 
• "Did China Use Water as a Weapon in the Doklam Standoff?" War on the Rocks, October 4, 2017
• "China's Russia Problem on North Korea" PacNet #56, August 17, 2017
• "Did India Miscalculate China's Red Lines in Australia Snub?" The National Interest, June 7, 2017
• "The CMC General Office: Recentralizing Power in the PLA," China Brief, May 11, 2017   
• "From Green to Purple: Can the Chinese Military Become More Joint?" War on the Rocks, March 30, 2017 (with Phillip C. Saunders)
• "PLA Reform in 2017: Likely Directions and Implications for Taiwan," Global Taiwan Brief, March 8, 2017 
• "China Cannot Be Expected to Punish North Korea," The National Interest, February 18, 2017
• "China and India's Slow-Moving Path to 'Water Wars'" The National Interest, November 1, 2016 (with Satu Limaye and Nilanthi Samaranayake)
• "Should Taiwan Fear China's New Rocket Force?" Policy Forum, September 2, 2016  (with David Logan)
• "China's Calibrated Response to the South China Sea is Firm (Yet Flexible)," The National Interest, August 17, 2016
• "China's Much-Heralded NSC Has Disappeared," Foreign Policy, June 30, 2016
• "What Do China's Military Reforms Mean for Taiwan?" NBR Commentary, May 19, 2016 (with Phillip C. Saunders)
• "Water War: This River Could Sink China-India Relations," The National Interest, April 18, 2016
• "Warning: Is China Pivoting Back to North Korea?" The National Interest, March 8, 2016
• "Why Islands Still Matter in Asia," The National Interest, February 5, 2016 (with Andrew S. Erickson)
• "Are Chinese Arms About to Flood Into Iran?" The National Interest, January 13, 2016

Testimony

• "Securing China's Belt and Road Initiative," Testimony for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, January 25, 2018