Gaston Sigur Memorial Lecture: China's Reimagined Future
Schedule
Mon Apr 13 2026 at 05:00 pm to 06:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
Elliott School of International Affairs 7th Floor, City View Room | Washington, DC
About this Event
About the Talk
Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies for our annual Gaston Sigur Memorial Lecture. This year, we will be joined by Hargrove Senior Fellow and former senior advisor for China at the Department of Commerce Elizabeth Economy. How does Xi Jinping conceptualize China's future role on the global stage? What strategy is he pursuing to realize his vision? What are the most important domestic and international determinants of his likely success or failure? Join us as Dr. Economy ponders these questions and more about China's reimagine future.
About the Speaker
Elizabeth Economy is the Hargrove Senior Fellow and co-chair of the Program on the US, China, and the World at the Hoover Institution. From 2021 to 2023, she served as the senior advisor for China in the Department of Commerce. Economy was previously at the Council on Foreign Relations, where she served as the C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and director for Asia Studies for over a decade.
Economy is an acclaimed author and expert on Chinese domestic and foreign policy. Her most recent book is The World According to China (Polity, 2022). Her books have been translated into a dozen languages.
She has published articles in foreign policy and scholarly journals including Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review, and Foreign Policy, and op-eds in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, among other news outlets. In June 2018, Economy was named one of the “10 Names That Matter on China Policy” by Politico Magazine.
Economy serves on the board of managers of Swarthmore College, as well as on the boards of the National Committee on US-China Relations and the National Endowment for Democracy. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition, she serves as the East Asia book reviewer for Foreign Affairs Magazine. At the World Economic Forum, she served as a member and then vice chair of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of China (2008–14) and a member of the Global Agenda Council on the United States (2014–16). She has taught undergraduate- and graduate-level courses at Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies.
Economy received her BA with honors from Swarthmore College, her AM from Stanford University, and her PhD from the University of Michigan. In 2008, she received an honorary doctor of law degree from Vermont Law School.
About the Moderator
Bruce Dickson received his B.A. in political science and English literature, his M.A. in Chinese Studies, and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty of The George Washington University and the Elliott School in 1993.
Professor Dickson’s research and teaching focus on political dynamics in China, especially the adaptability of the Chinese Communist Party and the regime it governs. In addition to courses on China, he also teaches on comparative politics and authoritarianism.
His current research examines the political consequences of economic reform in China, the Chinese Communist Party’s evolving strategy for survival, and the changing relationship between state and society. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the US Institute of Peace, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Where is it happening?
Elliott School of International Affairs 7th Floor, City View Room, 1957 E Street Northwest, Washington, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
