Eyck Freymann

Dr. Eyck Freymann is a scholar specializing in U.S.-China strategic competition and international relations. A Hoover Fellow at Stanford University, Freymann directs the Allied Coordination Working Group and serves as a non-resident research fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, the Institute of Geoeconomics in Tokyo, and the China Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College. He holds a doctorate from Oxford, master's degrees from Cambridge and Harvard, and a bachelor's from Harvard, all in history and China studies. Before joining Hoover, Freymann was a joint fellow at the Arctic Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Columbia-Harvard China & the World Program.

Freymann is the author of "Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China," "The Arsenal of Democracy: Technology, Industry, and Deterrence in an Age of Hard Choices," and "One Belt One Road: Chinese Power Meets the World." His first book, "One Belt One Road," is assigned as required reading in Harvard's introductory undergraduate course on the United States and China, as well as at Cambridge, Columbia, Peking University, and other universities. His scholarly work has appeared in "The China Quarterly" and is forthcoming in "International Security."

Freymann's research employs rigorous, on-the-ground methodology and draws on primary sources in Chinese and four other languages. His analysis of infrastructure projects under Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative argues that the initiative is fundamentally a campaign to restore an ancient tribute system, positioning Xi as a modern-day emperor. Through archival research and case studies from Malaysia to Greece, Freymann examines how China attracts willing partners rather than simply preying on victims. In "Defending Taiwan," he presents an integrated strategy to deter war with China and preserve peace, utilizing untranslated Chinese sources, military and economic analysis, and historical research. "The Arsenal of Democracy" integrates military strategy, industrial capacity, and emerging technology into a deterrence framework, addressing issues such as undersea warfare, logistics, and outer space.

Freymann advises businesses and asset managers at Greenmantle, a consultancy, where he directs coverage of Indo-Pacific and technology issues. He also advises policymakers in the United States and allied countries. His writing appears in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Economist, War on the Rocks, The Wire China, and The Atlantic, focusing on bipartisan approaches to national security and U.S.-China relations.