Jessica Chen Weiss Session Overview

Jessica Chen Weiss is the Michael J. Zak Professor for China and Asia-Pacific Studies in the Department of Government at Cornell University. From August 2021 to July 2022, Weiss served as senior advisor to the Secretary's policy planning staff at the U.S. Department of State on a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow ship for Tenured IR Scholars (IAF-TIRS) while on sabbatical from Cornell. She studies Chinese politics and foreign relations with an emphasis on nationalism and public opinion, focusing on the connection between domestic politics and international relations. Her first book, Powerful Patriots: Nationalist Protest in China's Foreign Relations (Oxford University Press, August 2014), examined how the Chinese Communist Party has managed nationalist, anti-foreign protests, tracing the government's repression and facilitation of grassroots mobilization as a means of conveying reassurance and resolve. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, International Organization, China Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Security Studies, Journal of Contemporary China, and the Review of International Political Economy. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, she received her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.