Xun Cao received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2007. Before coming to Penn State, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Niehaus Center of the Woodrow Wilson School of the Princeton University and a lecturer in the Department of Government of the University of Essex, UK. Professor Cao’s recent research interests include environmental and energy politics, ethnic violence, and political geography. His publications have appeared in journals such as American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Politics, and World Politics.