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INSTITUTE OF MALAYSIAN AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Professor Dr. Kuik Cheng-Chwee

Google Scholar h-index: 21
Citations: 2467

 

Professor of International Relations,
Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS),
National University of Malaysia (UKM),
43600 Bangi, Malaysia.
Email: cckuik@gmail.com (preferred), kuik@ukm.edu.my

 

Nonresident Senior Fellow, SAIS Foreign Policy Institute,
Johns Hopkins University
https://www.fpi.sais.jhu.edu/cheng-chwee-kuik

 

Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie China
https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2024/04/new-scholar-spotlight-cheng-chwee-kuik?lang=en

 

Academia.edu ¦  ResearchGate.net ¦ ORCID: 0000-0002-6318-085X

 

Qualifications:
BPA (UUM), M.Litt. (St. Andrews), PhD (Johns Hopkins)

 

Area of study:
International Relations

 

Brief Profile:
Dr. Kuik Cheng-Chwee is Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), National University of Malaysia (UKM). He is concurrently a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) and a Nonresident Scholar at Carnegie China. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Princeton-Harvard “China and the World” (CWP) Program and a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University. Professor Kuik’s research focuses on smaller-state foreign and defence policies, Asian security, and international relations. Cheng-Chwee is a regular invited speaker to international conferences and closed-door policy roundtables. Cheng-Chwee’s publications have appeared in such peer-reviewed journals as International Affairs, Pacific Review, Journal of Chinese Political Science, Journal of Contemporary China, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, and Contemporary Southeast Asia. His essay, “The Essence of Hedging”, won the Michael Leifer Memorial Prize awarded by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He is co-author (with David Lampton and Selina Ho) of Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia (2020) and co-editor (with Alice Ba and Sueo Sudo) of Institutionalizing East Asia (2016). His current projects include: hedging in international relations, domestic politics and foreign policy choices, and the geopolitics of connectivity cooperation. Cheng-Chwee serves on the editorial boards of Contemporary Southeast Asia, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Asian Politics and Policy, International Journal of Asian Studies, and East Asian Policy. He holds an M.Litt. from the University of St. Andrews, and a PhD from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Cheng-Chwee can be contacted at cckuik@gmail.com.

 

Research interests:
– International relations
– Hedging and weaker states’ foreign policy behavior
– ASEAN and Southeast Asian security
– Malaysia’s foreign and defence policies
– China-Southeast Asia relations
– BRI and geopolitics of connectivity-building
– Regional multilateralism and minilateralism in Indo-Pacific

 

Awards:

  1. Newton Advanced Fellowship(British Academy) ▪ 2016-2018
  2. UKM Excellent Service Award (Anugerah Perkhidmatan Cemerlang), Malaysia ▪ 2016
  3. The Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program(CWP) Postdoctoral Research Associate Fellowship ▪ 2013/2014
  4. KPT-UKM Postdoctoral Fellowship Award ▪ 2012/2013
  5. 2009 Michael Leifer Memorial Prize, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) ▪ 2010
  6. William and Marie-Daniele Zartman Fellowship, Johns Hopkins SAIS ▪ 2009
  7. Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation (CCKF) Doctoral Fellowship, Taiwan ▪ 2008/2009
  8. Lee Kong Chian Research Fellowship Award, Singapore ▪ 2007
  9. SAIS Ph.D. Student Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University ▪ 2006/07 & 2007/2008
  10. UKM Faculty Development (Study Leave) Award, Malaysia ▪ 2005/06
  11. Fulbright Graduate Study Scholarship ▪ 2003/2004 & 2004/2005
  12. ASIA Fellows Award (Asian Scholarship Foundation – Ford Foundation), Bangkok ▪ 2002/2003
  13. UKM Excellent Service Award (Anugerah Perkhidmatan Terpuji), Malaysia ▪ 2002
  14. British High Commissioner’s Chevening Award ▪ 1997/1998

 

Selected Publications:

  1. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2024), “Explaining Hedging: The Case of Malaysian Equidistance”, Contemporary Southeast Asia 46 (1), pp. 43-76.
  2. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Guido Benny (2024), “Linking Local Insights to Global IR: Locating Malaysian Contours and Contributions”, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, https://doi.org/10.1177/18681034241246014
  3. Chanintira na Thalang,Ja Ian Chong, Thuy Thi Do, Herman Joseph S Kraft, Cheng-Chwee Kuik, I Gede Wahyu Wicaksana, Vannarith Chheang, Yohanes William Santoso, Guido Benny (2024), “The State of the Discipline: How Far Along Are We in Developing an IR Theory Based on Southeast Asia’s Experiences”, International Studies Perspectives, https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekae009
  4. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2024), “Impossible Trinity Drives Prudent Hedging in Southeast Asia”, East Asia Forum, Vol. 16, No. 2 (April-June 2024), pp. 15-16, https://eastasiaforum.org/quarterlies/remaking-supply-chains/
  5. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2024), “Southeast Asian Responses to the U.S.-China Tech Competition: Hedging and Economy-Security Tradeoffs”, Journal of Chinese Political Science.
  6. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023). “Malaysian Conceptions of International Order: Paradoxes of Small-State Pragmatism”, International Affairs 99 (4), pp. 1477-1497.
  7. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Zikri Rosli (2023). “Laos-China Infrastructure Cooperation: Legitimation and the Limits of Host-country Agency”, Journal of Contemporary East Asia Studies (November), DOI: 10.1080/24761028.2023.2274236
  8. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023 “Navigating the Narratives of Indo-Pacific: ‘Rules’, ‘Like-mindedness’, and ‘De-risking’ in the Eyes of Southeast Asia”, Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs 9 (August), pp. 51-56.
  9. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Lai Yew Meng (2023). “Deference and Defiance in Malaysia’s China Policy: Determinants of a Dualistic Diplomacy”, International Journal of Asian Studies (Cambridge University Press).
  10. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023). “Advancing ASEAN-Centric Connectivity Cooperation: Inclusivity, Impartiality, Integrativity” in Towards Open and Inclusive Regionalism, edited by Sarah Teo, Rocky Intan, and Joel Ng (Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta), p 40-45.
  11. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023). “Active Neutrality: Malaysia in the Middle of U.S.-China Competition”, United States Institute of Peace, October.
  12. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023). “Discussant Comments”, in India in Asia: Deeper Engagement, edited by Rakesh Mohan (New Delhi, CSEP), pp. 128-130.
  13. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023). (with Matt Ferchen) “EU-ASEAN Trade, Investment, and Connectivity Cooperation”, in Lizza Bomassi, ed., Reimagining EU-ASEAN Relations: Challenges and Opportunities (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).
  14. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023). “Binary Trap Threatens ASEAN’s Hedging Role,” East Asia Forum, August 1.
  15. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023). “Southeast Asia Hedges Between Feasibility and Desirability,” East Asia Forum, July 4.
  16. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2023). (with Fikry Abd Rahman). “ASEAN’s Dialogue Mechanisms: Institutionalizing ASEAN Centrality”, in Jörn Dosch and Frederick Kliem, eds., The Elgar Companion to ASEAN (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar), pp. 177-195.
  17. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2022). “Hedging via Institutions: ASEAN-led Multilateralism in the Age of the Indo-Pacific”, Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Vol. 10, No. 2 (December), pp. 355-386.
  18. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Chen-Dong Tso (2022). “Hedging in Non-Traditional Security: The Case of Vietnam’s Disaster Response Cooperation”, Chinese Journal of International Politics (October), pp. 1-21.
  19. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2022). “Shades of Grey: Riskification and Hedging in the Indo-Pacific”, The Pacific Review, Vol. 35 (September), pp. 1-35.
  20. Kuik Cheng-Chwee, Abdul Razak Ahmad, and Ayman Rashdan Wong) “Malaysia and Northeast Asia: What Drives Small-State Forward Diplomacy”, Issues and Studies, Vol. 58, No. 3 (September), pp. 1-42.
  21. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2022). “The November 2022 Summits: A View from Southeast Asia”, TheAsanForum, https://theasanforum.org/a-view-from-southeast-asia/
  22. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Abdul Razak Ahmad (2022). “Southeast Asia-U.S. Relations in the Indo-Pacific Era: Navigating Promises and Pitfalls across the Twin Chessboards”, in Gilbert Rozman, ed., Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies 2022, 33 (Washington, DC: Korea Economic Institute of America), pp. 49-70.
  23. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2022). “Southeast Asian States and ASEAN: A Center of Courtships and Cooperation”, in David Shambaugh, ed., The International Relations of Asia, 3rd edition (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield), pp. 189-227.
  24. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Paul Evans (2022). “ASEAN and Ukraine: Non-Alignment via Multi-Alignment”, TI Observer, 21 (July) pp. 23-29.
  25. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2022). “Locating Host-Country Agency and Hedging in Infrastructure Cooperation”, in Seth Schindler and Jessica DiCarlo, eds., The Rise of the Infrastructure State: How US-China Rivalry Shapes Politics and Place Worldwide (Bristol: Bristol University Press), pp. 194-210.
  26. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2022). “The Politics of Thailand-China Railway Cooperation: Domestic Determinants of Smaller State BRI Engagement”, in Suthiphand Chirathivat, Buddhagarn Rutchatorn, Anupama Devendrakumar, eds., China’s Belt and Road Initiative in ASEAN: Growing Presence, Recent Progress, and Future Challenges (Singapore: World Scientific), pp. 223-250.
  27. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Thomas Daniel (2022). “Malaysia’s Relations with the United States and China: Asymmetries (and Anxieties) Amplified”, Southeast Asian Affairs 2022, pp. 211-231.
  28. Kuik Cheng-Chwee, Abdul Razak Ahmad and Lai Yew Meng (2022). “Finland and Sweden Today, Southeast Asia Tomorrow?”, ThinkChina, 21 (June 9), https://www.thinkchina.sg/finland-and-sweden-today-southeast-asia-tomorrow
  29. Lai Yew Meng, Kuik Cheng-Chwee, and Amy Azuan Abdullah (2021). “Pulau Layang-Layang in Malaysia’s South China Sea Policy: Sovereignty Meets Geopolitical Reality amid China-U.S. Rivalry”, International Journal of China Studies, Vol. 12, No. 2 (December), 189-222.
  30. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2021). “Getting Hedging Right: A Small State Perspective”, China International Strategy Review, December, 1-16.
  31. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Abdul Razak Ahmad (2021). “Malaysia’s Resilient (but Ambiguous) Partnership with the United States: The Dilemmas of Smaller States in the Indo-Pacific Era”, Asia Policy, October, pp. 86-95.
  32. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2021). “Laos’ Enthusiastic Embrace of China’s Belt and Road Initiative”, Asian Perspective, 45, No. 4, pp. 735-759.
  33. Abdul Razak Ahmad, Kuik Cheng-Chwee, and Lai Yew Meng (2021). “PLA Overflight near Malaysian Airspace: A Precarious Provocation”, Fulcrum: Analysis on Southeast Asia, June 30.
  34. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2021). “Asymmetry and Authority: Theorizing Southeast Asian Responses to China’s Belt and Road Initiative”, Asian Perspective, 45, No. 2, pp. 255-276.
  35. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2021). “Malaysia’s Fluctuating Engagement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Leveraging Asymmetry, Legitimizing Authority”, Asian Perspective, 45, No. 2, pp. 421-444.
  36. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Lai Yew Meng (2021). “Structural Sources of Malaysia’s South China Sea Policy: Power Uncertainties and Small-State Hedging”, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 75, No. 3, DOI:10.1080/10357718.2020.1856329
  37. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2021). “The Twin Chessboards of US-China Rivalry: Impact on Geostrategic Supply and Demand in Post-Pandemic Asia”, Asian Perspective, 45, No. 1, pp. 157-176. (ISI-indexed)
  38. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2021). “Irresistible Inducement? Assessing China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia”, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)’s Asia-Unbound, June 15.
  39. Kuik Cheng-Chwee, Abdul Razak Ahmad, and Khor Swee Kheng (2021). “Malaysia-US Relations and the Biden Administration: Mapping Excitement, Managing Expectations”, ISEAS Perspective, April 16.
  40. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2021). “Elite Legitimation and the Agency of the Host Country: Evidence from Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand’s BRI Engagement”, in Florian Schneider, ed., Global Perspectives on the Belt and Road Initiative (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press), pp. 217-244.
  41. David M. Lampton, Selina Ho, and Cheng-Chwee Kuik (2020). Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
  42. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2020). “Hedging in Post-Pandemic Asia: What, How, and Why”, The Asan Forum: An Online Journal, June 6,
  43. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2020). “Connectivity and Gaps: The Bridging Links and Missed Links of China’s BRI in Southeast Asia,” in Maria Adele Carrai, Jean-Christophe DeFraigne, and Jan Wouters, eds. The Belt and Road Initiative and Global Governance. Northampton, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, pp. 76-95.
  44. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Hoo Chiew Ping (2020). “The Bilateral-Multilateral Nexus in the New Southern Policy,” The Asan Forum: An Online Journal (January 7).
  45. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2020). “Mapping Malaysia in the Evolving Indo-Pacific Construct,” CSCAP Regional Security Outlook 2020 (Canberra: Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific).
  46. BA Hamzah and Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2019). “The Making of Defence White Paper”, New Straits Times (December 7).
  47. Ngeow Chow Bing and Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2019). “4th breakthrough in Malaysia-China relations,” New Straits Times (April 24).
  48. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Liew Chin Tong (2018). “Decoding the Mahathir Doctrine,” The Interpreter (August 20).
  49. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2018). “Opening a Strategic Pandora’s Jar? US-China Uncertainties and the Three Wandering Genies in Southeast Asia,” The Asan Forum: An Online Journal (July 2).
  50. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2018). “Keeping the Balance: Power Transitions Threaten ASEAN’s Hedging Role,” East Asia Forum Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1 (January-March), pp. 22-23.
  51. Alice D. Ba and Kuik Cheng Chwee (2018) “Southeast Asia and China: Engagement and Constrainment”, in Alice D. Ba and Mark Beeson, eds., Contemporary Southeast Asia: The Politics of Change, Contestation, and Adaptation, 3rd edition (London: Palgrave), pp. 229-247.
  52. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2017). “A Tempting Torch? Malaysia Embraces (and Leverages on) BRI Despite Domestic Discontent”, in Praxis: A Review of Policy Practice, Asian Politics and Policy, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 652-654.
  53. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2017). “A View from Southeast Asia: Beyond the ASEAN-based Concentric Multilateralism”, The Asan Forum: An Online Journal(September 5).
  54. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2017). “Explaining the Contradiction in China’s South China Sea Policy: Structural Drivers and Domestic Imperatives,” China: An International Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1 (February), pp. 1-24.
  55. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2016) (With Ithrana Lawrence). “Duterte’s and Najib’s China Visits and the Future of Small-State ‘Realignment’ in the Trump Era,” The Asan Forum: An Online Journal(December 14).
  56. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2016). “China’s ‘Militarization’ in the South China Sea: Three Target Audiences,” East Asian Policy, Vol. 8, No. 2 (April/June), pp. 15-24.
  57. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2016). “How Do Weaker States Hedge? Unpacking ASEAN States’ Alignment Behavior towards China,” Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 25, No. 100, pp. 500-514.
  58. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2016). “Malaysia between the United States and China: What do Weaker States Hedge Against?” Asian Politics and Policy, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 155-177.
  59. Alice Ba, Kuik Cheng-Chwee, & Sueo Sudo, eds. (2016). Institutionalizing East Asia: Mapping and Reconfiguring Regional Cooperation(London & New York: Routledge).
  60. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2015). “Malaysia’s Balancing Act”, The International New York Times(December 7), p. 8.
  61. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2015). “The Elephant in the Room: Is the Emerging Third Pillar Reshaping Asian Architecture and Regional Responses?” The Asan Forum: An Online Journal(November-December).
  62. Kuik Cheng-Chwee & Gilbert Rozman (2015). “Introduction to Part 1: Light or Heavy Hedging: Positioning between China and the United States,” in Gilbert Rozman, ed., Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies 2015, Vol. 26, (Washington, DC: Korea Economic Institute of America), pp. 1-9.
  63. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2015). “Variations on a (Hedging) Theme: Comparing ASEAN Core States’ Alignment Behavior”, in Gilbert Rozman, ed., Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies 2015, Vol. 26 (Washington, DC: Korea Economic Institute of America), pp. 11-26.
  64. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2015). “Malaysia’s Relations with Major and Middle Powers”, Observatoire Asie du Sud-est(Paris: Asia Centre, Sciences Po).
  65. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2015). “Introduction: Decomposing and Assessing South Korea’s Hedging Options”, in “Special Forum: South Korea’s Foreign Policy Options”, The Asan Forum: An Online Journal, Vol. 3, No. 3 (May-June).
  66. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2015). “An Emerging 3rd Pillar in Asian Architecture? AIIB and Other China-led Initiatives”, Asia-Pacific Bulletin, Number 305, March 26 (Washington, DC: East-West Center).
  67. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2015). “Malaysia-China Relations: Three Enduring Themes”, in Meredith Weiss, ed., Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Malaysia(London & New York: Routledge), pp. 417-427.
  68. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2014). 《中国参与东盟主导的机制：东南亚的视角》[China’s Participation in the ASEAN-led Institutions after the U.S. Rebalancing], in Men Honghua and Pu Xiaoyu, eds., 全球精英眼中的中国战略走向[China’s Strategic Directions in the Eyes of Global Elites] (Beijing: Renmin Publisher).
  69. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2014). “Malaysia-China Relations after MH370: Policy Change or Business as Usual?” The Asan Forum: An Online Journal, October 15.
  70. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2013). “Making Sense of Malaysia’s China Policy: Asymmetry, Proximity, and Elite’s Domestic Authority,” Chinese Journal of International Politics(Oxford University Press), Vol. 6, pp. 429-467.
  71. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2013). “Malaysia’s U.S. Policy under Najib: Structural and Domestic Sources of a Small State’s Strategy,” Asian Security, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 143-164.
  72. Kuik Cheng-Chwee, Nor Azizan Idris and Abd Rahim Md Nor (2012). “The China Factor in the U.S. ‘Reengagement’ with Southeast Asia: Drivers and Limits of Converged Hedging,” Asian Politics and Policy, Vol. 4, No. 3 (July), pp. 315-344.
  73. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2011). “China’s Evolving Strategic Profile in East Asia: A Southeast Asian Perspective,” in China and East Asian Strategic Dynamics: The Shaping of a New Regional Order, edited by Mingjiang Li and Dongmin Lee (Lantham: Lexington-Rowman & Littlefield), pp. 127-149.
  74. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2010). “Analyzing Malaysia’s Changing Alignment Choice, 1971-89,” Jebat: Malaysian Journal of History, Politics and Strategic Studies, Vol. 37, pp. 41-74.
  75. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2009). “Shooting Rapids in a Canoe: Singapore and Great Powers,” in Impressions of the Goh Chok Tong Years in Singapore, edited by Bridget Welsh, James Chin, Arun Mahizhnan, and Tan Tarn How (Singapore: National University of Singapore Press), pp. 156-167.
  76. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2008). “The Essence of Hedging: Malaysia and Singapore’s Response to a Rising China,” Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 30, No. 2 (August), pp. 159-185.
  77. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2008). “China’s Evolving Multilateralism in Asia: The Aussenpolitik and Innenpolitik Explanations,” in East Asian Multilateralism, edited by Kent E. Calder and Francis Fukuyama (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press), pp. 109-142.
  78. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2005). “Multilateralism in China’s ASEAN Policy: Its Evolution, Characteristics, and Aspiration,” Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 27, No. 1 (April), pp. 102-122.
  79. Kuik Cheng-Chwee and Bridget Welsh (2005). “Brunei: Multifaceted Survival Strategies of a Small State,” in Asian Security Handbook: Terrorism and the New Security Environment, 3rd ed., edited by William M. Carpenter and David G. Wiencek (London & New York: M. E. Sharpe), pp. 56-69
  80. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2005). “China’s Participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum: The Exogenous and Endogenous Effects of International Institutions,” in China and Southeast Asia: Changing Political and Strategic Ties, edited by James K. Chin and Nicholas Thomas (Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong), pp. 141-169.
  81. Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2004). 《中国参与东盟主导的地区机制的利益分析》 [An Interest-based Analysis on China’s Participation in the ASEAN-led Regional Institutions], 世界经济与政治 [World Economics and Politics] (Beijing) No. 9 (September), pp. 53-59.

 

Professional Experience:

  1. Member, Consultative Council on Foreign Policy (CCFP) ▪ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia ▪ March 2023 – Present
  2. Visiting Professor ▪ Department of International Politics, Universitas Indonesia, Depok ▪ September 2022
  3. Member, Editorial Board ▪East Asian Policy ▪ July 2022 – Present
  4. Member, International Editorial Advisory Board ▪Asian Politics and Policy ▪ December 2021 – Present
  5. Co-Investigator ▪ Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway ▪ Research Council of Norway Project on “Shaping the Digital World Order: Norms and Agency along the Digital Silk Road in Southeast Asia” ▪ Principal Investigator: Dr. Ilaria Carrozza ▪ June 2021 – May 2024
  6. Research Collaborator ▪ Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) ▪ JICA Ogata Research Institute Project on “The New Dynamics of Peace and Development in the Indo-Pacific: How Countries in the Region Proactively Interact with China” ▪ Principal Investigator: Professor Akio Takahara ▪ August 2022 – March 2024
  7. Member, Editorial Board ▪International Journal of Asian Studies (Cambridge University Press, for University of Tokyo) ▪ February 2021 – Present
  8. Member, Editorial Committee ▪Asian Perspective ▪ August 2017 – Present
  9. Consultant, “The Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia” ▪ Council on Foreign Relations, New York ▪ April – June 2021
  10. Principal Writer & Head, Writing Team (External Expert Panel), Malaysia’s inaugural Defence White Paper ▪ Ministry of Defence ▪ January 2019 – February 2020
  11. Non-resident Fellow ▪ Foreign Policy Institute (FPI), Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Washington, DC ▪ December 2018 – Present
  12. Consultant ▪ Asian Development Bank (ADB) TA-9124 PRC: Study of the Belt and Road Initiative ▪ September 2018 – June 2019
  13. Senior Researcher▪ Unit Perundingan Universiti Malaya (UPUM) Project on “Malaysia’s Foreign Policy as a Middle Power” (led by Tan Sri Kamal Salih), for Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ▪ August 2016 – February 2017
  14. Member, Editorial Board ▪Australian Journal of International Affairs ▪ June 2016 – Present
  15. Member, International Advisory Board ▪Contemporary Southeast Asia ▪ March 2016 – Present
  16. Project Leader & Principal Investigator▪ Newton Advanced Fellowship Project on “Asymmetry and Authority: Southeast Asian States’ Responses to China’s Belt and Road Initiative” (in collaboration with Dr. Lee Jones, Queen Mary University of London) ▪ March 2016 – February 2018
  17. Co-Researcher▪ Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Project on “Road to Chinese Power: Railroad Infrastructure and Beijing’s Quest for Influence” (led by Professor David M. Lampton) ▪ January 2016 – 2019
  18. Coordinator ▪ Master of Social Sciences in Strategy and Diplomacy ▪ A collaborative program between Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia ▪ October 2014 – October 2017
  19. Adjunct Lecturer ▪ Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia ▪ September 2014 – 2022
  20. Adjunct Lecturer ▪ Malaysian Armed Forces Defense College (MPAT), Ministry of Defense, Malaysia ▪ September 2014 – 2018
  21. Postdoctoral Research Associate ▪ Princeton-Harvard “China and the World Program” (CWP), Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University ▪ September 2013 – August 2014
  22. Associate Member ▪ Nuffield College, University of Oxford ▪ August 2012 – August 2014
  23. Visiting Research Fellow ▪ Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford ▪ August 2012 – August 2013
  24. Visiting Fellow ▪ Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta ▪ November-December 2011
  25. Visiting Scholar ▪ ASEAN Studies Center, American University, Washington, DC ▪ August 2011
  26. Visiting Scholar ▪ Southeast Asian Studies, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC ▪ June – July 2011
  27. Adjunct Lecturer ▪ Malaysian Armed Forces Defense College (MPAT), Ministry of Defense, Malaysia ▪ February 2010 – July 2012
  28. Adjunct Lecturer ▪ Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia ▪ October 2009 – July 2012
  29. Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow ▪ Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, National Library Board (NLB), Singapore ▪ April – November 2007
  30. Fulbright Doctoral Student ▪ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC ▪ September 2003 – August 2005
  31. Visiting Fellow (ASIA Scholarship Foundation, supported by Ford Foundation) ▪ Shanghai Institute of International Studies (SIIS) ▪ February – June 2003
  32. Visiting Fellow (ASIA Scholarship Foundation, supported by Ford Foundation) ▪Institute of Asia Pacific Studies (IAPS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Beijing ▪ September 2002 – February 2003
  33. British Chevening Scholar ▪ Department of International Relations, University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, DC ▪ September 1997 – September 1998