Zheng Wang, Ph.D.

Professor; Director, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS)
School of Diplomacy and International Relations

Dr. Zheng Wang is the Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) and Professor in the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. He is currently also a Global Fellow at the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Fellow of International Security at New America, and a member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR).

Dr. Wang has extensive professional and academic experience in the Asia Pacific region. He has been a Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), a Visiting Fellow at Saltzman Institute of War & Peace Studies of Columbia University, a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore, a Visiting Professor at University of Tokyo, and a Dr. Seaker Chan Endowed Visiting Professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

Dr. Wang's research interests lie in three closely connected areas: (1) identity-based conflicts, nationalism, and the politics of historical memory; (2) peace and conflict management in East Asia, with special focus on China’s rise and its impact on regional peace and security; (3) foreign-domestic linkage in Chinese politics and foreign relations.

Dr. Wang is the author of the book Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations (Columbia University Press, 2012). This book received International Studies Association’s Yale H. Ferguson Award in 2013. It was heralded by a book review as “qualif[ying] as a landmark in the study of Chinese nationalism.” Its Japanese version was published in Japan in 2014. Dr. Wang’s new book, Memory Politics, Identity and Conflict: Historical Memory as a Variable (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) aims to contribute to methodological discussions concerning the use of identity as a variable to explain political actions. He is under contract with the Oxford University Press to write a new book about China’s new diplomatic initiatives and the maritime disputes with its neighbors.

Dr. Wang has published journal articles and book chapters in various peer-reviewed publications, including: International Studies Quarterly, International Negotiation, Asian Survey, Asia Policy, History and Memory, Journal of Contemporary China and Wilson Quarterly. He is regular contributor of op-ed articles in national and international media, such as The New York Times, TIME, The National Interest and The Diplomat.

In recent years, Dr. Wang has received multiple highly competitive fellowships and grants from prestigious institutions. The most recent grant award from the Henry Luce Foundation supports him to conduct dialogues and joint research between the US and China over the South China Sea disputes. As a researcher and a practitioner, Dr. Wang regularly conducts conflict resolution trainings and acts as a facilitator in several interactive conflict resolution (ICR) dialogue programs between participants of China-Japan, China-Taiwan, and U.S.-China in recent years.