John J. Chin

I am an assistant teaching professor in the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Security and Technology (formerly the Institute for Politics and Strategy) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). I previously served as a research coordinator and post-doctoral fellow at CMU. In AY 2020-21, I was a non-resident post-doctoral fellow with the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict.

My research focuses on the politics of political unrest and instability (coups d’état, self-coups, mass protest and nonviolent revolution, and assassinations), authoritarian politics, comparative democratization, China's political development, and forecasting political instability. I am the lead author of an Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups D'état (with Joseph Wright and David Carter, Rowman & Littlefield, 2022). My research has been published in the British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Frontiers in Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, and the Journal of Chinese Political Science. I have also written for general audiences in the Brown Journal of World Affairs, the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Political Violence at a Glance, The Monkey Cage, and the Washington Post. 

My teaching interests span international relations and comparative politics. I regularly teach the following courses: (Introduction to) International Relations, Diplomacy and Statecraft, Nonviolent Conflict and Revolution, and The Future of Democracy. I have also taught courses (irregularly) on international human rights, civil-military relations, writing for political science and policy, and collaborative research in political science.

I hold a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University (2017), an M.P.P. from the University of Michigan (2008), and a B.A. in Political Science and Chinese from the University of Notre Dame (2006). Prior to my doctoral studies, I worked as an international affairs analyst at the Congressional Budget Office (2008-2010). I also have prior policy experience at the Rand Corporation, U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. State Department, and Atlantic Council of the United States.

You can contact me by e-mail at jjchin[at]andrew.cmu.edu.