Dr. JACK ZHANG


Dr. Jack Zhang
  • Assistant Professor
  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Political Science

Contact Info

Blake 413
Lawrence
1541 Lilac Lane
Lawrence, KS 66045

Education

Ph.D. in Political Science, University of California San Diego, 2018
B.A. in Political Science, Duke University, 2011

Research

I am the founder and director of the Trade War Lab, a social science lab dedicated to dual mission of understanding the U.S.-China Trade War and its impact on heartland communities through a bottom-up, data-driven, firm-centric approach AND empowering policy-relevant academic research by teams of undergraduate and graduate students through collaboration and mentoring.

My other research interests include international political economy, international security, foreign policy analysis, Chinese foreign policy, and U.S.-China relations. My research has been supported by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the Minerva Research Initiative, the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Charles Koch Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies, and the KU Social & Behavioral Sciences General Research Fund

Teaching

POLS 970 Foreign Policy Analysis 
POLS 170 Introduction to International Relations 
POLS 177 Geopolitics of East Asia
POLS 356 Government and Politics of East Asia
POLS 366 Political Economy of East Asia
POLS 476 International Relations of Asia 
 

Selected Publications

Zhang, Jiakun J., Jianbing Li, Duoji Jiang, and Weifeng Zhong, "China’s Domestic Politics and Editorial Control over Foreign News Coverage in the People’s Daily, 1993–2022." Journal of Contemporary China (2025). 

Timothy Cichanowicz and Jiakun J. Zhang, "The Politics of Securitization: U.S. and Japanese Legislative Responses to De-Risking with China." Law and Geoeconomics (2025).

Lindsay Dolan, Robert Kubinec, Daniel Nielson, and Jiakun J. Zhang, "A Field Experiment on Business Opposition to the U.S.-China Trade War." Business and Politics (2024). 

Samantha Vortherms and Jiakun J. Zhang, "Political Risk and Firm Exit: Evidence from the US-China Trade War." Review of International Political Economy (2024)

Zhang, Jiakun J., and Spencer Shanks, "Measuring Chinese Economic Sanctions 1949-2020: Introducing the China TIES Dataset." Conflict Management and Peace Science (2024). 

Rigao Liu, Haruka Nagao, William Hatungimana, Jiakun J. Zhang, and John Kennedy, "The Politics of Flu Vaccines: International Collaboration and Political Partisanship." Japanese Journal of Political Science (2024). 

Zhang, Jiakun J. and Spencer Shanks, "Disentangling Perception and Performance: A Natural Experiment on Student Engagement and Learning in Simulations." Journal of Political Science Education (2023).

Zhang, Jiakun J., Rigao Liu, and Samantha Vortherms, "In the Middle: American Multinationals in China and Trade War Politics." Business and Politics (2022).

Zhang, Jiakun Jack. “US-China Trade War: Interest Group Politics.” In Research Handbook on Trade Wars, edited by Ka Zeng and Wei Liang. (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022).

Zhang, Jiakun Jack. “Business, Lobbyists, and the U.S. Congress.” In The Political Logic of the U.S.-China Trade War, edited by Shiping Hua. (Lexington Books, 2021).

Awards & Honors

ICCAE Research Award. University of Kansas. 2025

IRISE Fellowship. University of Kansas. 2024

International Affairs Advisory Board International Teaching Award. University of Kansas. 2024

Social & Behavioral Sciences General Research Fund. University of Kansas. 2024

Public Intellectual Fellowship. National Committee on U.S.-CHINA Relations. 2023. 

Grant Goodman Undergraduate Mentor Award. University of Kansas. 2023

J. Michael Young Academic Advisor Award. University of Kansas. 2022

K. Barbara Schowen Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. University of Kansas. 2021

Wilson China Fellowship. Wilson Center. 2021