Photo of Oriana Skylar Mastro

Oriana Skylar Mastro, PhD

  • Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall
Stanford,  CA  94305-6055

Biography

Oriana Skylar Mastro is a Center Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, where her research focuses on Chinese military and security policy, Asia-Pacific security issues, war termination, nuclear dynamics, and coercive diplomacy. She is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and continues to serve in the United States Air Force Reserve, for which she works as a strategic planner at INDOPACOM.

She has received numerous awards for her military service and contributions to U.S. strategy in Asia, including the 2020 and 2018 Meritorious Service Medal, the 2017 Air Force recognition Ribbon, and the 2016 Individual Reservist of the Year Award. She has won a number of other prestigious awards, including the 2016-2017 Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship at the Council of Foreign Relations.

She has published widely, including in International Security, Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, International Studies Review, Journal of Strategic Studies, The Washington Quarterly, Survival, and Asian Security. Her book, The Costs of Conversation: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime, (Cornell University Press, 2019), won the 2020 American Political Science Association International Security Section Best Book by an Untenured Faculty Member.

Prior to her appointment at Stanford in August 2020, Mastro was an assistant professor of security studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University.

Her publications and commentary can be found at orianaskylarmastro.com and on Twitter @osmastro.

publications

Journal Articles
January 2023

The Next Flashpoint?

Author(s)
The Next Flashpoint?
Journal Articles
November 2022

Reassurance and Deterrence in Asia

Author(s)
Reassurance and Deterrence in Asia
Journal Articles
October 2022

How South Korea Can Contribute to the Defense of Taiwan

Author(s)
How South Korea Can Contribute to the Defense of Taiwan

Current research

In The News

Gi-Wook Shin, Amb. Jung-Seung Shin, and Oriana Skylar Mastro at the Winter Payne Lecture
News

Payne Distinguished Fellow Examines South Korea’s Strategic Path Amid U.S.-China Competition

Ambassador Jung-Seung Shin, the Winter 2023 Payne Distinguished Fellow, offered insights into the dynamics of the trilateral U.S.-China-South Korea relationship, the impacts of the great power competition between the United States and China on South Korea, and the prospects for enhanced Korea-U.S. collaboration.
Payne Distinguished Fellow Examines South Korea’s Strategic Path Amid U.S.-China Competition
U.S. and Japanese forces conduct a maritime partnership exercise in the South China Sea.
Commentary

Japan Must Do More, and Faster, to Avert War Over Taiwan

Tokyo must make clear at home and abroad that defending Taiwan is no longer off the table.
Japan Must Do More, and Faster, to Avert War Over Taiwan
Portrait of Oriana Skylar Mastro with text "Recipeint of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada 2022-23 John H. McArthur Research Fellowship"
News

Center Fellow Oriana Skylar Mastro Awarded 2022-23 John H. McArthur Research Fellowship

The fellowship, established by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, recognizes Mastro’s exceptional scholarly contributions in the fields of Chinese military, Asia-Pacific security, war termination, and coercive diplomacy.
Center Fellow Oriana Skylar Mastro Awarded 2022-23 John H. McArthur Research Fellowship

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