Yuan Yi Zhu
Research Topic:
I am a DPhil candidate in International Relations at Nuffield College and an Associate Member of Pembroke College, Oxford. In addition, I am a Senior Research Fellow at Policy Exchange. My research is concerned with the notion of sovereignty within the context of international law. In particular, I am interested in the influence of non-Western powers such as China on the development of legal understandings of sovereignty. I also maintain secondary research interests in political history and public law.
Before coming to Oxford, I obtained a BA from McGill University, where I was an Allen Oliver Fellow and Moyse Scholar, and a MPhil from the University of Cambridge, where I was a Bacon Scholar.
Research
My research interests include:
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Constitutions, Institutions and Governments,
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Law and International law,
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Norms, legitimacy and justification,
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Foreign Policy and diplomacy,
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Global governance,
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History,
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Institutions and organisations,
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International law,
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Sovereignty
Teaching
I currently teach International Relations for undergraduate PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) students at Pembroke College, Harris Manchester College, Hertford College, and Worcester College, Oxford. I have also taught for Stanford University's Oxford Program.
Awards
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Asian Society of International Law Young Scholar Prize (2021)
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Barbara W. Tuchman Prize for Best Paper in Historical International Relations by a Graduate Student, International Studies Association (2020)
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Social Sciences Research Council of Canada Doctoral Research Fellowship (2017)
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Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship [declined], (2017)
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Nuffield College-DPIR Studentship in International Relations, University of Oxford (2016)
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Gabrielle Sacconaghi Bacon Scholarship in International Relations, University of Cambridge (2015)
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Moyse Travelling Scholarship, McGill University (2015)
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Allen Oliver Fellowship, McGill University (2015)
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Philip F. Vineberg Travelling Fellowship, McGill University [declined] (2015)
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Mackenzie King Travelling Scholarship, Mackenzie King Trustees [declined] (2015)
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Guy Drummond Fellowship, Science Po and McGill University [declined] (2014)
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Cherry Prize in Political Science, McGill University (2014)
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Mr & Mrs Harry Colle Award, McGill University (2014)

Publications
As author:
- "Suzerainty, Semi-Sovereignty, and International Legal Hierarchies on China’s Borderlands", forthcoming, Asian Journal of International Law.
- Putting Royal Assent in Doubt? One Implication of the Supreme Court’s Prorogation Judgment. London: Policy Exchange, 2019.
- "Myanmar", Foreign Law Guide, Marci Hoffman (ed.). Leiden: Brill, 2018.
- "Canada—a new framework for the right to be tried within a reasonable time, R. v Jordan [2016] SCC 27", Public Law (July 2017), 520-522.
As editor:
- (with Tuuli-Anna Huikuri) "Redrawing the Boundaries of International Law", special issue of St Antony's International Review 14(1) (May 2018).
- (with M Gehring, A Wardell, E Kassongo, and J Nadeau) CIFOR-UNIKIS-CISDL Sustainable Landscapes Law and Governance Info Brief Series (Montreal: Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, 2015).
I also write regularly for various publications, including Foreign Policy and The Critic.