From May 29 to July 3, 2026, Liu Jinghui, a tenured professor at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and director of the Chinese Studies Program at California State University, US, visited the Institute of Country and Region Studies (ICRS), Peking University as a visiting scholar. Prof. Liu Jinghui had previously conducted research at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. During this visit, he delivered three specialized seminar lectures as part of the "Adventus Amicorum" series hosted by the Institute of Country and Region Studies, Peking University from June 5 to June 9.
The 85th session of the "Adventus Amicorum" series, held on June 5, was themed "Research Methods in Country and Region Studies: Eight Research Perspectives of Social Ecology." The 87th session, on June 8, focused on "Experiences and References for the Construction of the Discipline of Country and Region Studies in World-Class Universities." The 86th session, on June 9, explored "The Cultivation of Talents in Country and Region Studies and Investment Risk Management: Hedge Fund Companies’ Demand for International Macro-Analysis Professionals." The three sessions respectively focused on the research methods, discipline construction, and practical application of country and region studies, with discussions progressing systematically.
The three specialized seminars invited several scholars to participate in the discussions, including Prof. Zhai Kun, deputy director of ICRS; Prof. Zan Tao, deputy director of ICRS; Prof. Liang Zhanjun, dean of the Institute of Country and Regional Studies at Capital Normal University; Prof. Wen Chunying from the School of International Communications at Communication University of China; Associate Professor Wang Jiarui from the College of International Development and Global Agriculture at China Agricultural University; and Jin Ge, assistant director of ICRS. . The events also drew participation from faculty and students at PKU, Tsinghua University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, and other institutions.
In the 85th lecture, titled "Research Methods in Country and Region Studies: Eight Research Perspectives of Social Ecology," Prof. Liu Jinghui primarily focused on research methods in country and region studies. He introduced the topic by reflecting on training methods for country and region studies, emphasizing that the most significant gains for area studies scholars are experience, perception, and practice. He first elucidated the meaning of social ecology, which is the study of the socio-political or institutional contexts unique to human beings. The "ecological perspective" lies in observing how society, particularly the society in which humans live, operates, drawing an analogy to how biologists attempt to understand the functioning of natural ecosystems. He pointed out that, unlike ecological economists who focus solely on "sustainability," the fundamental issue in social ecology is the "tension between sustainability and change," emphasizing the observation and perception of society from an individual's perspective grounded in dynamic social phenomena.
By integrating the eight research perspectives of overall social ecology into country and region studies, Prof. Liu Jinghui expanded upon and analyzed the four dimensions of country and region studies: the first dimension is the perception dimension of area studies scholars, emphasizing perception based on the unique personal experience of the individual; the second is the sustainability dimension, including the perspective of contemporary great powers and the perspective of mutual learning and exchange among civilizations, in which the latter views contemporary society as the result of mutual learning and exchange among the eight major ancient human civilizations, offering a more comprehensive and profound view; the third is the dimension of change (innovation), encompassing the technological and the information perspectives; the fourth is the dimension of humanistic practice, comprising the economic, management, and financial investment perspectives.
Finally, Prof. Liu Jinghui discussed five important issues regarding the research methods of country and region studies, including its relation to human perception, situations of tension, instances of perception, and sources of perception. He emphasized that social ecology is a research and cognitive method oriented to the spiritual level of human beings and subordinate to a theoretical research path primarily based on qualitative analysis; the tension between continuity and change in regions and countries is the issue that country and region studies must explore, and in the future, the tension between the digital and the human will become an important issue that country and region studies needs to confront; as area studies scholars, one must always remain in a state of continuously perceiving and understanding the world.
During the discussion session, in response to a question about how to avoid subjective one-sidedness in personal perception, Liu Jinghui replied that perception must be grounded in personal experience and requires personal witnessing and practice, and that the limitations of an individual’s perspective can be mitigated by integrating supplementary research methods. Addressing the interaction between country and region studies and other disciplines, as well as mutual learning among civilizations, he noted that civilization results from exchange and that clarifying pathways and chronologies is key to solving historical academic problems.
Zhai Kun finally introduced the history of the development of country and region studies in China, noting that its aim is to provide a comprehensive and practical understanding of other countries required by national strategy.
In the 86th lecture, Prof. Liu Jinghui explored how to integrate country and region studies into talent development for investment risk management. He first emphasized that geopolitical risk is the central variable across cross-border financial investment, credit, commodity pricing, and exchange rate analysis. He stated that the lecture would use classic financial cases as a starting point, integrate the core training framework of country and region studies, "regional expertise + language proficiency + international macro-political and economic analysis," and align with the core needs of the financial industry, including sovereign risk assessment, emerging market investment, and cross-border risk management.
He first introduced the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and the arbitrage model, both of which won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1997. Using Long-Term Capital Management (hereinafter referred to as LTCM) as an example, he noted that the company relied on mathematical models, ignored geopolitical risks, lacked area studies or geopolitics experts during the investment process, and failed to predict the "flight to liquidity" triggered by the 1998 Russian crisis, resulting in a loss of four billion USD in less than four months and leading to bankruptcy. He analyzed the regional and country-level factors in the LTCM bankruptcy crisis, including the indirect impact of the Asian financial crisis, the inherent risks of emerging markets and Russia, and the shock therapy blow to the Russian economy.
Liu Jinghui subsequently elaborated on the demand for talent in country and region studies and in hedge fund investment risk assessment. The LTCM incident illustrated the severe consequences of a lack of risk management talent; during the investment process, area and country risks, market risks, and the ethical risks of companies and individuals are all important and require oversight by an expert evaluation committee. He pointed out that in the investment process, area and country risks, market risks, and the ethical risks of companies and individuals all need to be controlled by expert evaluation committees, and that some large fund companies, such as Bridgewater Associates, specifically have a "Head of Geopolitical Research" position. Geopolitical risk assessment firms are also one of the employment options for students of country and region studies. Most funds prefer individuals who possess "deep knowledge of certain region or geopolitics and can quickly learn finance," and ideal candidates typically hold master's or doctoral degrees in related fields, possess strong analytical writing skills, and have the ability to connect political events with market fluctuations. In addition to direct employment within fund companies, geopolitical risk assessment firms are also an option; many hedge funds do not hire full-time geopolitical experts, but rather outsource and purchase services from professional consulting firms at considerable costs. Relevant well-known geopolitical risk assessment companies include the Eurasia Group and Stratfor.
During the discussion on the influence and purpose of capital groups during the Asian financial crisis, Liu Jinghui stated that cases like Soros using private capital to collapse a country's economy are very special: the primary purpose is to extract profit, but associated political factors inevitably arise. Regarding the government's priorities when dealing with corporate financial crises, he believed that governments would comprehensively consider the type of enterprise, public sentiment, the government’s financial strength, and the personal reputation of business leaders. Meanwhile, governments might also assist enterprises by spearheading cooperation with other companies.
The 87th lecture was held as a roundtable discussion, focusing on the experiences of world-class universities in building the country and region studies discipline. Prof. Liu Jinghui first introduced the background of the development of the country and region studies discipline, suggesting that the construction of this discipline is a key development direction for humanities and social sciences in the new era. He stated that in this discussion, he hoped to focus on the disciplinary layout system of area studies in top global universities, systematically outline the logic of division and the core research methods of the seven major sectors of global area studies, and thereby explore how to break down disciplinary barriers, integrate cross-departmental and interdisciplinary research forces, and coalesce academic teams with shared research regions and research interests, providing experience references and practical ideas for the high-quality construction of the country and region studies discipline in domestic universities.
Liu Jinghui then used the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University as an example to elaborate on the seven major sectors into which its area studies are divided: Europe, Africa, Latin America and Iberia, the Middle East, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. He emphasized that these seven regional councils were not established all at once but gradually formed over years of evolution. He also compared the organizational structures of area studies at other American universities. Harvard more often uses large centers (such as the Asia Center) to integrate Asia and separately establishes specialized centers for Russia, Europe, etc.; although Columbia University has strong research institutions for Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East, these institutions lean more toward independent operation rather than unified cooperation.
Prof. Liu Jinghui subsequently explained the relationship between the seven major sectors of country and region studies and the 11 major sectors of the financial market: energy, technology, industry, materials, real estate, consumer staples, utilities, healthcare, consumer discretionary, financials, and communication services. Through three specific cases—the 1990 Gulf War, the 2018–2019 Sino–US trade war, and the 2026 US–Iran war—he demonstrated the mechanisms of influence among sectors and between sectors and the financial market. He concluded that real-world regional and country conflicts are rarely neatly framed by geographical boundaries and that regional councils often must collaborate. He summarized three core characteristics of cross-sector conflicts: first, the chain of action spans the airspace, waters, and transportation routes of different countries and regions; second, the impact of conflicts rapidly spreads through energy, shipping, finance, and supply chains; third, market reactions simultaneously affect multiple industry sectors. Precisely because of this, the single-element division of “classifying conflicts by region” will become increasingly insufficient in reality; it still helps in establishing a framework, but “cross-regional transmission pathways” (such as straits/canals, shipping corridors, and nodes of sanctions and supply chains) must be incorporated to more closely reflect the true form of modern conflicts.
During a discussion of the US's shift from regional studies to country and region studies, Liu Jinghui stated that American regional studies are the origin of American country and region studies, bearing the limitations of their era and colonial overtones, but their rich accumulation of historical materials can be inherited and utilized by current country and region studies. Addressing the characteristics of China's country and region studies, which focuses on globality, he emphasized that a global perspective should serve as the foundation, followed by the perspective of great powers; for example, attention to and reporting on the European stock market have gradually disappeared from American news, and the implicit change of the times behind this is the gradual decline of Europe. China should also cultivate country and region studies scholars with a global perspective, rather than merely focusing on bilateral relations between China and a specific country. In response to whether country and region studies should keep pace with the times in the era of artificial intelligence, he stated that technology, industry, and applications can be viewed more through the perspectives of science and technology and information.
The three lectures in this "Adventus Amicorum" seminar series progressively explored the essence and development of country and region studies, covering methodology, discipline construction, and practical applications. Liu Jinghui not only offered a theoretical perspective on social ecology for country and region studies but also shared international experience in institutionalizing and professionalizing the discipline. Looking ahead, he highlighted the tremendous value of country and region studies for applications and career prospects in financial investment risk management. These three seminar activities provided important inspiration for promoting the interdisciplinary integration of country and region studies and for enhancing its capacity to serve national strategies and practical needs.
