Dr. Yan Chang Bennett
Dr. Yan Chang Bennett is a seasoned subject-matter expert in foreign policy and international law, contributing to academic scholarship and practical applications of international affairs. Currently serving as the Deputy Chair of Global Issues (KCK, Inc) at the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute, Dr. Bennett shapes the education of diplomats on key global and transnational issues critical to American foreign policy. With a rich background that includes experience as a tenured Foreign Service Officer serving in Singapore, China, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and bridge assignments at the Department, she has deep practical experience in political/economic issues as well as front office experience as Special Assistant to a U.S. Ambassador.
Following her Foreign Service career, Dr. Bennett pivoted to a career in higher education, including research and scholarship on American foreign policy, contemporary Chinese politics, international law and multilateralism in the 21st Century. Concurrent to her work at FSI, she teaches at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and the School of International Service at American University on such courses as Law and Diplomacy and UN and the International System, the UN Reimagined, China’s Global Ambitions, and International Law. Dr. Bennett also teaches Chinese Politics, Chinese Policy, and the Belt and Road Initiative for other government clients. Previously, she has taught 21st Century U.S. Diplomacy and the History of American Diplomacy at Illinois State University. At Princeton University, Dr. Bennett implemented programs on the study of China and a study abroad seminar to China. Dr. Bennett’s work is complemented by her prolific scholarship on U.S.-China relations and global security, making her an invaluable resource for students seeking to gain a deeper perspective on foreign policy, the international system, and U.S.-China relations. She holds an MA in international affairs from the Elliott School, a JD in law, and a PhD in American diplomatic history.
Her current research projects include United Nations reform, global AI policy, and US presidential policies on China. Her book, American Policy Discourses on China, is out now.
History of U.S.-China relations, contemporary Chinese political philosophy, discourse analysis, diplomatic studies
- “Xi Jinping Thought: Political philosophy or totalizing paradigm?” Forthcoming. In China under Xi Jinping: An Interdisciplinary Assessment, edited by Hanna Kupś, Maciej Szatkowski and Michal Dahl. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill.
- “China’s Real Ambitions for the South Pacific.” The Strategist, June 17, 2022.
- “Implications of China’s Pacific Dream for the United States, Australia, and Allies.” Journal of Political Risk 10, no. 6 (June 2022).
- “China’s inward and outward facing identities: post-COVID challenges for China and the international rules-based order.” In COVID-19 and Foreign Aid: Nationalism and Global Development in a New World Order, edited by Viktor Jakupec, Max Kelly, Michael de Percy. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
- “Why the Winter Olympics are so vital to the Chinese Communist Party’s legitimacy.” February 1, 2022. The Conversation.
- “China’s Leadership and Governance.” February 2022. Journal of Asian Studies 81(1), 151-53.
MA in International Affairs
JD, PhD in History
UN and Global Security
Law and Diplomacy
UN Reimagined for the 21st Century
Bennett, Yan, Compliance with Fed. Regulations on Employment Verification, Home News Trib. (March 16, 2009)
Bennett, Yan, Options for Foreign Workers Facing Termination of Employment, 196 N.J.L.J.395 (May 11, 2009)
Bennett, Yan, TARP Recipients Limitations on Foreign Worker Hiring, 196 N.J.L.J 775 (June 15, 2009)
Bennett, Yan, “Chinese Contract Law after the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods,” Law and Policy for China's Market Socialism (Routledge, 2012)
Garrick, John and Yan Bennett, eds., China's Socialist Rule of Law Reforms Under Xi Jinping, (Routledge, 2015)
Garrick, John and Yan Bennett, “A Critical Appraisal of China’s ‘Four Comprehensives’ Grand Narrative,” UUM Journal of Legal Studies (JLS) Vol. 6, 2015.
Garrick, John and Yan Bennett, “Xi Jinping Thought: Realisation of the Chinese Dream of National Rejuvenation?” China Perspectives, No.2018/1-2, p. 99-105, Summer 2018
Garrick, John and Yan Bennett, “China’s ‘Four Comprehensives’ Narrative: The Underlying Values of Socialist Rule of Law Reform,” conference paper July 2017
Garrick, John and Yan Bennett, “China’s ‘Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy’: the Values underlying Socialist Rule of Law Reforms,” (under review)
Bennett, Yan, “America’s Arsenal in a Trade War with China,” (working paper)
Bennett, Yan, "The International Criminal Court and Article 98 Agreements: Aftermath and Postmortem" (working paper)