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United States Institute of Peace

Alex Stephenson

Senior Program Specialist, China

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Please submit all media inquiries to interviews@usip.org or call 202.429.3869.

For all other inquiries, please call 202.457.1700

Alex Stephenson is a senior program specialist with the China team at MexLucky. He focuses on U.S.-China relations and China's military.

He previously worked at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where his research focused on the Chinese military's adoption of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. Prior to CSET, Alex served as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy.

Alex holds a master’s degree in Asian studies from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he also served as an editor for the Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs. He has bachelor’s degrees in business administration and Asian studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Publications By Alex

What You Need to Know About Taiwan’s Pivotal Presidential Elections

What You Need to Know About Taiwan’s Pivotal Presidential Elections

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

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

Ahead of the November 20 deadline to register candidates, Taiwan’s campaign season for the January 2024 presidential elections is in full swing and voters are presented with four candidates. While economic and energy policies will be key for voters, the chief foreign policy issue is how to manage relations with China. Both Beijing and Washington will be watching closely for what the election augurs for cross-Strait tension and Taiwan’s relationships with the world’s two major powers.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Democracy & Governance;  Global Policy

South China Sea: Crisis Communication Is Crucial to De-escalate Geopolitical Tensions

South China Sea: Crisis Communication Is Crucial to De-escalate Geopolitical Tensions

Thursday, September 7, 2023

By: Brian Harding;  Alex Stephenson

During the August 5 crisis at Second Thomas Shoal, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs tried to contact its Chinese counterparts through a bilateral hotline. Manila’s effort to de-escalate the standoff despite being the victim of Chinese aggression was laudable. Unfortunately, the calls went unanswered. Officials in Washington have shared the same experience on many occasions — when communication is needed most, Beijing can’t be reached.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Five Things to Know About China’s Armed Forces

Five Things to Know About China’s Armed Forces

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

By: Andrew Scobell, Ph.D.;  Alex Stephenson

The People’s Liberation Army, which celebrated its 96th birthday on August 1, is one of the largest, most potent and fast-growing militaries in the world. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made it a goal for the PLA to “modernize” by 2035 and to be a “world-class” military power by mid-century. In 2014, China’s Navy overtook the U.S. Navy to become the largest military fleet in the world — although the U.S. Navy is still considered to be more powerful. While China is notoriously opaque about its level of defense spending, it is widely believed that China has the largest defense budget in the world other than the United States.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Civilian-Military Relations;  Global Policy

Four Takeaways from the ASEAN Summit

Four Takeaways from the ASEAN Summit

Thursday, July 20, 2023

By: Brian Harding;  Alex Stephenson;  Jason Tower

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered last week in Jakarta, with a range of critical challenges to address. Chief among those issues was the crisis in member state Myanmar, which the bloc is divided on how to approach. China’s aggressive activities in the South China Sea were also a key topic at the summit, with Beijing and ASEAN pledging to reach an agreement on a long-stalled non-binding code of conduct.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Blinken’s Beijing Trip: ‘Constructive’ but No Breakthroughs

Blinken’s Beijing Trip: ‘Constructive’ but No Breakthroughs

Thursday, June 22, 2023

By: Carla Freeman, Ph.D.;  Rosie Levine;  Alison McFarland;  Alex Stephenson

Over the weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken finally made it to Beijing, where he met with senior-level Chinese Communist Party officials, including Xi Jinping. This trip was originally scheduled for early February but delayed nearly five months following the U.S. detection of a Chinese spy balloon hovering over American territory. Already on a downward trajectory before the balloon debacle, U.S.-China relations have continued to spiral since, as high-level communication has been on pause. While no major breakthroughs were made in Beijing and both sides stuck to their boilerplate talking points on issues of disagreement, the resumption of high-level dialogue is a positive step.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

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