
John SEAMAN
Research Fellow, Center for Asian Studies
Research Interests:
- Chinese energy and raw materials policy
- Geopolitics of Asia (esp. energy, natural resources)
- U.S.-China and Europe-China relations
- U.S. strategy in the Asia-Pacific
- Chinese industrial strategy and foreign policy
- Political economy of East Asia
- Critical raw materials (esp. Rare Earth Elements)
John Seaman joined Ifri in 2009, where he specializes in the geopolitics and political economy of energy and natural resources in Asia, with a focus on China and Japan. He also conducts research on China's industrial strategy and foreign policy, the U.S. strategy and policy in East Asia, Europe-China relations, international relations and geopolitics in East Asia, and the political economy of critical raw materials (incl. rare earth elements).
Mr. Seaman holds a Master in International Affairs - International Security from Sciences Po, Paris, a Bachelor of Arts in International Economics from Seattle University, and studied as a NSEP David L. Boren Scholar at the Beijing Center for Chinese Studies (2002-03). In the summer of 2011 and 2013 he was a visiting researcher with the Energy and Environment Program of the Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS) in Tokyo, Japan and was an International Research Fellow with CIGS until 2018. He has spent a number of years studying and working in both China and Japan.
The idea that Europe has grown dependent on China is now a common refrain, but just how is this notion understood in capitals across the continent?
An era of hyper globalization is giving way to an age of geoeconomics wherein China seeks a decisive seat at the table.
In recent years, the People's Republic of China's policy towards Taiwan has become increasingly aggressive.
Analysis from 17 countries and EU institutions reveals that Chinese soft power in Europe – defined as the ability to influence preferences through attraction or persuasion – has seen better days.
As international relations are increasingly reorganized around the US-China rivalry, the tensions between these two great powers are shaping a growing number of sectors, and the exchange of sensitive technologies in particular. This is a critical issue for European companies today. <...>
Xi Jinping’s announcement of carbon neutrality is impeccably timed, but the hard part lies ahead.
Analysis from 19 countries reveals the complexities of Europe’s relations with China amid the Covid-19 crisis.
China is rapidly emerging as a formidable power in the development of technical standards, transforming the international standard-setting landscape and reintroducing an element of geopolitics into what are too often considered as benign, technical processes.
Navigating the mounting tensions between the United States and China is a geopolitical minefield. Is Europe up to the challenge?
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, if not from the birth of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) itself, relations with United States have proven to be a central factor in China’s strategic calculus and a major driver of Chinese foreign policy. Indeed, America’s...
Annual conference of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies. The war in Ukraine has marked the return of high-intensity conflict in Europe and represents a profound, structural shift in the region’s strategic environment. It also takes place against a backdrop of a decades-long...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France on May 4 is his fifth since 2015, and the 10th such high-level bilateral visit.
The rise of the so-called ‘wolf warriors’ heralds a more aggressive approach to promoting the country’s official line. Analysts warn this is likely to harm the country’s image even if their careers benefit as a result.
Critics fear Germany could put European unity on the line. Angela Merkel will have to tread carefully on her visit to China this week to avoid tripping over Hong Kong and stepping on Germany’s car industry. Angela Merkel will have to tread carefully on her visit to China this week to...
China believes its near-monopoly gives it leverage over the US but supply cuts would spur rival producers.
Growing tensions between China and the United States over the escalating trade dispute – and the resulting global uncertainty – are forcing other countries to choose between the two economic superpowers.
Mapping Europe-China Relations: A bottom-up approach -- a recent report of the European Think-tank Network on China (
John Seaman answers questions from the China Daily on the recently concluded negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and their consequences for China and for Europe.
...While China may be setting the bar high for itself in it's commitments for the COP21 climate negotiations this December, these ultimately serve to foster necessary progress on environmental issues and economic...
L'empire du Milieu est-il sur le point de relâcher la pression sur le marché stratégique des terres rares ? C'est ce que pourrait laisser penser l'annonce du gouvernement chinois, mercredi 22 août, d'augmenter ses quotas d'exportation de ces dix-sept métaux indispensables...