Michael Beckley

Michael Beckley is a tenured Professor of Political Science at Tufts University, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Head of Asia Research at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. His scholarship examines the rise and fall of great powers, analysing why some nations achieve enduring dominance while others decline.

Previously, Beckley was an International Security Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and held positions at the US Department of Defense, the RAND Corporation, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He continues to advise offices within the US Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense.

Beckley is widely recognised for his expertise on the balance of power between the United States and China. He is the author of two critically acclaimed books. Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower (2018) argues that the United States possesses enduring structural advantages that, if effectively leveraged, will enable it to remain the world’s leading power throughout the century. His second book, Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China (2022), co-authored with Hal Brands, contends that the most perilous phase of US-China competition may unfold as an intense, decade-long sprint, with the moment of greatest danger potentially imminent.

His research on great power competition has received awards from the American Political Science Association and the International Studies Association and has been featured in leading outlets including the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, NPR, and The Washington Post.

Beckley holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University and a B.A. in International Studies from Emory University.