Dr Mercy A Kuo is vice-president of strategic services at Pamir, a global risk intelligence consultancy in metropolitan Washington DC. She authors a weekly column on US–Asia policy at The Diplomat, an international affairs magazine for the Asia Pacific. She is a member of the National Committee on US–China Relations and an advisory council member of the Asia Pacific Institute at the American Jewish Committee. Dr Kuo was most recently president and executive director of the Washington State China Relations Council in Seattle. She was formerly managing director of the Committee of 100, a New York City-based US–China leadership organisation founded by IM Pei and Yo-Yo Ma. She was also senior project director and director of the South-east Asia studies and strategic Asia programmes at a US-based foreign policy think tank. Dr Kuo formerly served with the Central Intelligence Agency as a foreign policy analyst on North-east and South-east Asian political, security, and military issues. Her recent select publications include: “The Geopolitics of Energy in the South China Sea”, World Energy magazine (June 2019), “Expert Views on the US–China Trade Dispute and Its Broader Implications”, AJC Global Voices (24 August 2018) and “China’s Strategic Orientation: Assessing Alternative Futures”, China in the 21st Century: History, Security and International Relations (Praeger, 2014). She holds a PhD in modern history from Oxford University.