Dr. Jennifer Staats is the director of East Asia and Pacific Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace. She joined USIP in 2016 as the director of the China Program, and she continues to lead USIP’s work on China. She also oversees USIP’s programs in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Dr. Staats previously served as director for advanced capabilities on the National Security Council staff, working with allies to enhance peace and security in the Indo-Pacific. She also spent several years working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where she focused on policy issues related to Asia. At the Pentagon, she led the teams that coordinated the Department of Defense’s implementation of the U.S. Rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and developed long-term strategies for the Department. She also served as a director in the Cyber Policy Office and managed the Asian and Pacific Security Affairs portfolio for the assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs. Dr. Staats received several awards for her work, including the Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service.

Before entering government service, Dr. Staats was a fellow with the International Security Program at Harvard’s Belfer Center and a research assistant with the Preventive Defense Project chaired by Ashton B. Carter and William J. Perry. She has also lived, worked, and studied in both China and Germany.

Dr. Staats received her doctoral degree from Harvard University, her master's from Princeton University and her bachelor's from the University of the South (Sewanee). She has been named a Fulbright Scholar, NSEP Boren Fellow, Javits Fellow, Rosenthal Fellow and NCAA Postgraduate Scholar. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Publications By Jennifer

Pro-Taiwan Pacific Island Leaders Show Cracks in China’s Appeal

Pro-Taiwan Pacific Island Leaders Show Cracks in China’s Appeal

Thursday, May 18, 2023

By: Camilla Pohle-Anderson;  Jennifer Staats, Ph.D.

Most Pacific Island countries have formal diplomatic relations with Beijing. But at both the local and national level, some leaders are raising concerns about Chinese bribery, violations of sovereignty, clandestine intelligence operations and political interference in their countries, as well as the possibility that China may invade Taiwan. As Beijing forces its agenda on Pacific Island countries and competes with the United States for influence in the region, Washington should lead by example and build partnerships with the Pacific Islands that emphasize consulting with them as equals and focusing on areas of common interest, like climate change.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Tensions over Taiwan Rise with Tsai’s U.S. Stopover

Tensions over Taiwan Rise with Tsai’s U.S. Stopover

Thursday, March 30, 2023

By: Rosie Levine;  Jennifer Staats, Ph.D.

President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan transits this week through the United States, stopping in New York on her way to Guatemala and Belize, and in California on her way home. Tsai has made six stopovers since she took office in 2016, but this is the first since July 2019. The stopovers are not official visits, but Tsai is expected to meet Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in California. Beijing has made it known it fiercely opposes the stopover and threatened to retaliate if McCarthy and Tsai meet.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Xi and Putin Flaunt Deepening Ties, Flout the U.S.-led Order

Xi and Putin Flaunt Deepening Ties, Flout the U.S.-led Order

Friday, March 24, 2023

By: Heather Ashby, Ph.D.;  Mary Glantz, Ph.D.;  Jennifer Staats, Ph.D.;  Andrew Scobell, Ph.D.

Thirteen months after Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Moscow and Beijing are continuing to deepen their ties even as China has sought to portray itself as a neutral player in the war. This week’s summit between Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin comes on the heels of the International Criminal Court’s warrant for Putin for war crimes. For Putin, the summit demonstrated that despite Western sanction and opprobrium, Russia is not an isolated pariah state. Meanwhile, Xi used the summit to further the image he has tried to burnish of Beijing as a peacemaker and advance his vision of an alternative multilateral order, breaking away from the U.S.-led system.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Three Key Takeaways from the Biden-Xi Summit

Three Key Takeaways from the Biden-Xi Summit

Thursday, November 17, 2022

By: Rosie Levine;  Jennifer Staats, Ph.D.;  Alex Stephenson

With the U.S.-China relationship at its lowest point in decades, the American and Chinese leaders met this week on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Indonesia for their first face-to-face summit since Joe Biden was elected. The deteriorating bilateral relationship became particularly concerning in August when China cut key lines of communication between Washington and Beijing, including on critical military and climate issues, following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Four Takeaways from China’s Tour of the Pacific Islands

Four Takeaways from China’s Tour of the Pacific Islands

Thursday, June 9, 2022

By: Jennifer Staats, Ph.D.

In late May, as President Biden was wrapping up his visit to Asia, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, launched a 10-day tour of the Pacific Islands. Almost immediately, news broke that Wang had unexpectedly proposed a sweeping multilateral agreement to deepen Beijing’s security and economic ties with the region, then quickly withdrew it due to lack of support from the Pacific Island countries. This followed a controversial Solomon Islands-China security pact signed in April that set off alarm bells in the United States and Australia over China’s efforts to establish a security presence in the Pacific Islands region.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

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