Book Project
A Place in the Stars: National Narratives, Status, and China’s Quest for Space Power
Why does China pursue expensive and attention-grabbing space capabilities with limited material payoffs? To explain this puzzle, I argue that the Chinese Communist Party pursues status symbols for domestic mobilization and to legitimate its rule at home. These pursuits, however, have unexpected and adverse international consequences, raising threat perceptions and catalyzing security spirals—which can be particularly destabilizing in the domain of outer space. I draw upon data collected from fieldwork carried out in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the United States. I use data from interviews with Chinese and American individuals focusing on space policy, as well as Chinese-language memoirs, collected writings, official histories, white papers, journal articles, and military textbooks.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“China’s Branding Problem: Image Management and the U.S.-China Space Relationship” Space Policy Vol.69, 2024.
“Heavenly Mandate: Public Opinion and China’s Space Activities,” Space Policy Vol.60 2020.
“Chinese Views on Nuclear Weapons: Evidence from an Online Survey” (with Naomi Egel), Research and Politics July 2021.
Book Chapters
“Autocracies and Space Policy: New Directions for Research” (Routledge Handbook on Space Policy).
"Chinese Domestic Politics and the Trade War” in Ed. Hua Shiping, The Political Logic of the US-China Trade War, (Rowman & Littlefield).
“Introduction: The PLA in 2025” (with Roy Kamphausen) in The Chinese People’s Liberation Army in 2025. Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College, the National Bureau of Asian Research and the US Pacific Command, 2015.
“The Future of Chinese Spacepower: Domestic and International Drivers of China’s Space Ambitions’’ in Ed. Heather Venable, The Future of Air and Spacepower: Intersections of Theory and Technology (Under contract with Air University Press).
Under Review
"Rallying and Dividing: Nationalist Rhetoric and its Limits in China" (with Jeremy Wallace).
“Status Projects and Domestic Audiences: Evidence from China’s Human Space Program.”
“Playing Second Fiddle: Status Dissatisfaction and Alliance Splits.”