Assistant Professor, School of International Service
Area of Expertise:
China, Russia, Cold War History, Elite Politics, Foreign Policy
Additional Information:
Joseph Torigian is an associate professor at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. where he studies the politics of authoritarian regimes with a specific focus on elite power struggles, civil-military relations, and grand strategy. Prof. Torigian uses primary sources, rare books, and interviews to provide new accounts of historical milestones in two nations of crucial geopolitical importance: China and Russia. In addition to his work at American University, Prof. Torigian is a research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover History Lab, a global fellow at the Wilson Center, and a center associate of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan.
Prof. Torigian is the author of “Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion: Elite Power Struggles in the Soviet Union and China after Stalin and Mao.” His second book, “The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping,” will be released in June 2025. His views on Chinese and Russian politics and history have appeared in media outlets including the BBC, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Economist, Financial Times, New York Times, New Yorker, NPR, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and his articles were published in Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy.