Dr. Taylor Fravel

Professor

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Biography

Taylor Fravel is the Arthur Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He specializes in international relations with a focus on international security, military strategy, nuclear strategy, and territorial disputes, particularly in relation to China and East Asia. His notable publications include 'Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China’s Territorial Disputes' and 'Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy 1949.' Fravel's works have been featured in prestigious journals such as International Security, Foreign Affairs, and Security Studies. He has received several accolades, including being named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow by the Carnegie Corporation in 2016. He serves as a principal investigator for the Maritime Awareness Project and is a member of the board of directors for the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Fravel completed his undergraduate education at Middlebury College and earned his PhD from Stanford University, followed by graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He has had a significant impact on the study of U.S.-China relations and continues to contribute to the field through research, publications, and teaching.

Research Interests

Courses

17.950 Territorial Conflict 17.407/17.408 Chinese Foreign Policy: International Relations Strategy 17.433/17.434 International Relations East Asia 17.418 Field Seminar International Relations 17.THT Thesis Research Design Seminar