PhD Student, Political Science
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Thang Ha is a Ph.D. student in political science. Before joining BU in the Spring of 2024, Thang worked as a diplomat in Vietnam, specializing in international economic affairs, including multilateral economic forums, trade negotiations, and economic integration. Thang has had diverse experience working with the academic and policy communities in Asia, Europe, and Australia. His research interests lie in the economic–security nexus, especially concerning why states foster or sever economic interdependence in the interest of national security, and the agency of small states amid the grand adjustments in international trade, production, and investment linkages. Thang earned an International Master in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies at the University of Glasgow with the European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, and a B.A. in International Relations from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. To learn more about Ha’s research and publications, visit his webpage.
In Spring 2025, Thang received a CISS Summer mini-grant to support his the development of a novel dataset on economic sanctions. This dataset, which incorporates both overt and covert sanction episodes, will be among the first to systematically document hidden coercive practices in economic statecraft. It offers the empirical foundation of his study and aims to shed light on why states choose to obscure their political demands through commercial pressure. Learn more in our featured article.