Research
Book Project
​
Network Embeddedness and Strategic Alignment in Great Power Competition
My book project examines how social structures influence the alignment decisions of less powerful states in great–power competition. I argue that these decisions are shaped not only by factors like power distribution, threat perception, or regime type but also by the configurations of global networks—security, economic, and/or diplomatic—in which states are embedded. A state's position in these networks plays a crucial role in determining its vulnerability to peer influence and its ability to resist great powers' coercion, which ultimately affects its alignment choices in these rivalries.
Publications
​​
Xiong, Haoming, David A. Peterson, and Bear F. Braumoeller. "Reconceptualizing International Order: Contemporary Chinese Theories and Their Contributions to Global IR." International Organization (2024), 78 (3), 538-574.
​
Beek, Maël van, Michael Z. Lopate, Andrew Goodhart, David A. Peterson, Jared Edgerton, Haoming Xiong, Maryum Alam, Leyla Tiglay, Daniel Kent, and Bear F. Braumoeller. "Hierarchy and war." American Journal of Political Science (2025), 69 (1), 299–313.
Selected Working Papers
​​​
"Network Embeddedness and Foreign Policy Alignment in Great Power Competition: Evidence from the US-China 5G Contest"
​​​
"Hierarchy Misalignment and War: Network Effects of Relational and Material Power" (with Jared Edgerton, Dagmar Heintze, and Maël van Beek)
​
"The Continuity and Evolution of Chinese Leaders' Views of International Order" (with Liuya Zhang and Bear Braumoeller)
​​
"Networked Diplomacy: Leader Visits and US-China Competition" (with Jing Luo and Alexander Thompson)
​
"Under Pressure: Preference Promotion as a Form of International Order" (with David Peterson)