Biography
Qiaochu Zhang is a Max Weber Fellow at the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute. She is also an Honorary Researcher on the European Research Council-funded AutoNorms project at the Centre for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark. She completed her PhD in Politics at the University of Manchester in 2024.
Her research focuses on the governance of AI and other disruptive technologies, and on the transformation of international order. She is currently leading two research projects. The first examines how China’s approach to AI governance is perceived by non-Chinese actors, particularly in the Global South, and what these dynamics imply for the evolution of international order. The second explores the strategies and positions adopted by middle powers in global AI governance, as well as their broader implications for world order.
Her work has been published in Contemporary Security Policy, Cooperation and Conflict, Critical Studies on Security, Ethics and Information Technology, Global Policy, Global Studies Quarterly, International Affairs, and International Peacekeeping, as well as in the Oxford Handbook of Norms Research in International Relations.
Alongside her academic publications, she contributes to policy-facing research, including reports on AI-enabled decision-support systems for military operations and China’s export control policy. She has also shared her expertise through television interviews, podcasts, and public commentary. She manages the social media presence of the Journal of Global Security Studies.