Biography
Pieter W.G. Zhao is a PhD candidate and lecturer at the Department of History at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His doctoral research is funded by the NWO's PhD in the Humanities Competition (2024), which aims to boost the recruitment and advancement of research talent in the Humanities. His research project focuses on the changing dynamics in the 21st-century maritime warfare and security environment from a maritime and applied historical perspective, focusing on non-state actors and irregular warfare in the maritime domain (supervised by Prof. Dr. Ralf Futselaar and Dr. Sarah Bertrand).
Pieter holds a BA and MA (Cum Laude) in History from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, specializing in the history of international relations and maritime history. He also holds a second Master's degree in International Security from the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po, Paris, specializing in Strategic Studies, Asian Studies, and Intelligence Studies. He completed part of his studies at Sciences Po at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington DC, focusing on US-China relations, maritime security, and nuclear proliferation.
His research interests include international security and geopolitics, specifically in the maritime domain and the Indo-Pacific region. He has previously published in the Naval War College Review, European Journal of East Asian Studies, Comparative Strategy, Militaire Spectator, and the Strategy Bridge.
Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication
- zhao@eshcc.eur.nl
More information
Work
- Pieter W. G. Zhao (2023) - China's 21st Century Maritime Strategy: A Naval Historical Dialogue between Mahan and Corbett - European Journal of East Asian Studies, 22 (2), 150-178 - doi: 10.1163/15700615-02202005 - [link]
- Pieter W.G. Zhao & Sayed Mahdi Munadi (2023) - The role of Gwadar in China’s maritime strategy: A geostrategic dialogue between Mahan and Mackinder - Comparative Strategy, 42 (4), 489-508 - doi: 10.1080/01495933.2023.2219192 - [link]
- Pieter W. G. Zhao (2024) - Outsourcing Security at Sea - The Return of Private Maritime-Security Companies and Their Role in Twenty-First-Century Maritime Security - Naval War College Review, 77 (1) - [link]
- Pieter Zhao (2024) - PhD in the Humanities Grant
Heuristic Skills and Sources
- Year Level
- BA-1, BA-1
- Year
- 2024
- Course Code
- CH1104