Yuan-kang Wang is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Western Michigan University and Center Associate in the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. He was an International Security Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. Prior to joing WMU, he taught at the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University and the Department of Diplomacy at National Chengchi University in Taiwan.

Dr. Wang specializes in international relations, historical China, Taiwan security, and U.S.-China relations. His research examines the nexus between international relations theory and historical China. He is author of Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics (Columbia University Press, 2011), which debunks the myth of Confucian pacifism in Chinese grand strategy, use of force, and war aims. He has published journal articles on peripheral nationalism in China, nationalist mobilization during Taiwan’s democratization, U.S. extended deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan public opinion on cross-Strait security issues, and a realist explanation of the Sinocentric tribute system.