Announcing New Asia Program Fellows

• April 3, 2025

The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is pleased to welcome the appointment of three Asia Program Fellows. These scholars will pursue research projects in Taiwan studies.

“We are thrilled to welcome our new Taiwan Studies Fellows, whose expertise will significantly deepen our understanding of Taiwan’s strategic importance and its role in the Indo-Pacific,” said Asia Program Director Michael Beckley. “Their contributions will be vital to shaping informed policy discussions at this critical time.”

Brendan Flynn is a Non-Resident Fellow in the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and a PhD Candidate at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. His research explores how structural and domestic factors influence security dynamics in the US-China-Taiwan relationship. He previously conducted fieldwork in Taiwan as a Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) Scholar and studied Chinese at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) as a Boren Fellow. His work has been published in a GTI Occasional Report and in The National Interest. Prior to graduate school, Brendan studied Chinese and taught English in Beijing. He holds a BA from Bard College.

Joshua B. Freedman is a Non-Resident Fellow in the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Contemporary China and a China Fellow at the Wilson Center. His research focuses on the intersection of politics, society, and ideas, with a regional specialization in mainland China and Taiwan. His writings on contemporary politics and policy have been published in outlets including China Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, and The Atlantic. He holds a PhD in Government from Harvard University and a BA in Public Policy from Stanford University.

Thomas Shattuck is a Fellow in the Asia and Eurasia Programs at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and is a Senior Program Manager at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House. He is a 2024-25 non-resident WSD-Handa Fellow at the Pacific Forum and a 2024-25 non-resident Research Fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point. His research focuses on cross-Strait relations, Taiwanese and Chinese domestic and foreign affairs, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, and the US role in the Indo-Pacific.