I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Government at Harvard University.

I study international politics with a particular focus on U.S. foreign policy and grand strategy towards the Asia-Pacific. I am a Hans J. Morgenthau Predoctoral Fellow (2026-2027) with the O’Brien Notre Dame International Security Center at the University of Notre Dame. I am also an affiliated researcher with the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis (CCA).

I received my Master of Philosophy in Politics (Comparative Government) with Distinction from the University of Oxford, where I focused on the political economy of China and social science research methods. I received my bachelor’s degree in political science with a double major in Chinese studies from Emory University.

I can be reached at michael_cerny@g.harvard.edu.