https://www.scottmoorephd.com/bio daily 0.75 2026-01-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624d62f596c9c42862af44f8/a0b1b9f0-c6d6-4a64-b04b-7b0522e1d04b/252.jpg Bio - Scott M. Moore Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Scott Moore is Managing Director of Global Initiatives, Research, and Strategy, Practice Professor of Political Science, Director of the Penn Global Climate Security and Geopolitics Project, Principal Investigator of the Penn International Climate Observatory, Faculty Fellow of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, and Senior Advisor to The Water Center at Penn, all at the University of Pennsylvania. His primary research interests center on China, climate change, and emerging technologies, especially China’s role in the global biotechnology sector. Dr. Moore’s first book, Subnational Hydropolitics: Conflict, Cooperation, and Institution-Building in Shared River Basins (Oxford University Press, 2018), examines how climate change and other pressures affect the likelihood of conflict over water within countries. His latest, China’s Next Act: How Sustainability and Technology are Reshaping China’s Rise and the World’s Future (Oxford University Press, 2022), explores China’s role in global public goods provision against the backdrop of geopolitical rivalry and competition and what it means for action on climate change and other shared global challenges. Ongoing research projects include those focused on the evolution of China’s climate diplomacy; climate and trade, especially border carbon adjustments; regulation of solar radiation modification; the future of global climate governance; and climate adaptation and resilience, especially in areas related to water resources management. As Managing Director of Global Initiatives, Research, and Strategy at Penn, Dr. Moore serves as a principal advisor on international affairs and leads a team that develops strategic initiatives for university leadership. In this capacity, Dr. Moore directs four Global Research Programs for China, India, Africa, and worldwide; Penn’s At-Risk Scholars Program, which supports academics and public intellectuals affected by war and conflict; the Penn Global - Perry World House Policy Fellows Program, which aims to help train the next generation of climate policy leaders; and oversees the Penn Wharton China Center. Dr. Moore also leads Penn’s engagement with international institutions and in policy engagement activities, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) process; the U.S. Department of State DiplomacyLab program; and the Convention on Biological Diversity COP. Prior to joining Penn, Dr. Moore was a Young Professional and Water Resources Management Specialist at the World Bank Group, and Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer for China at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked extensively on the Paris Agreement on climate change. He has also served as an advisor on China and strategic competition at the U.S. Department of Defense. Before entering public service, Dr. Moore was Giorgio Ruffolo Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. He was also awarded the Wilson China Fellowship, the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program fellowship, the Fulbright fellowship, and the Truman Scholarship. Dr. Moore’s research and commentary on a wide range of environmental and international affairs issues has appeared in a range of leading scholarly journals and media outlets, including Nature, The China Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, and The New York Times. Dr. Moore holds doctoral and master’s degrees from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and an undergraduate degree from Princeton. https://www.scottmoorephd.com/books daily 0.75 2022-04-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624d62f596c9c42862af44f8/48f98091-7bfd-41cc-b273-e08266c40c5a/ChinasNextActIconSmall.jpg Books - China’s Next Act: From solar panels to synthetic biology, an accessible-yet-authoritative overview of how climate change, the global Covid-19 pandemic, and emerging technologies are changing China’s relationship with the world, and what it means for governments, companies, and organizations across the globe. Ever since China began its ascendancy to great-power status in the 1980s, observers have focused on its growing economic, military, and diplomatic power. But in recent years, Chinese officials, businesses, and institutions have increased their visibility and influence on every major global issue, from climate change and artificial intelligence to biotechnology and the global Covid-19 pandemic. How have these newer issues changed China’s relationship with the world? And, importantly, how can we prepare for a future increasingly shaped by China? China’s Next Act re-envisions China’s role in the world, with a focus on sustainability and technology. It argues that these increasingly pressing, shared global challenges are reshaping China’s economy and foreign policy, and consequently, cannot be tackled without China. Yet sustainability and technology present opportunities for intensified economic, geopolitical, and ideological competition—a reality that Beijing recognizes. The US and other countries must do the same if they are to meet ecological and technological challenges in the decades ahead. In some areas, like clean technology development, competition can be good for the planet. But in others, it could be catastrophic—only cooperation can lower the risks of artificial intelligence and other disruptive new technologies. In this clearly written and accessible overview, China’s Next Act examines how countries like the US must balance cooperation and competition with China in response to shared challenges. With an emphasis on opportunities as well as threats, this book addresses not only key developments in sustainability and technology within China, but also their implications for foreign countries, companies, and other organizations. China’s influence on sustainability and technology is both global and granular—and twenty-first century China itself looks more like a network than a nation-state. Featuring original interviews and an in-depth look at Chinese government policy, China’s Next Act provides a unique—and uniquely balanced—window into these new dimensions of China’s global ascension. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624d62f596c9c42862af44f8/0695e8d9-adf5-4bb1-b4d6-4e8d0605b372/Subnational+Hydropolitics.jpg Books - Subnational Hydropolitics: Re-thinking conflict and cooperation over water The prospect of international conflict over water has long been the subject of academic and popular concern, but subnational political conflict is considerably more common, and almost certainly imposes greater economic and environmental costs. Indeed, subnational hydropolitics are an important feature of several large countries, including the United States, India, and China. Moreover, disputes between water users in shared river basins have often persisted despite repeated attempts by central governments to resolve them through both persuasion and coercion. Yet despite the growing threat of water scarcity around the world, little research exists on sub-national politics of shared water resources. This book attempts to fill the gap by explaining how and why hydropolitics play out within countries, as well as between them. Subnational Hydropolitics re-examines the issue of water conflict by examining conflicts at the subnational rather than international level. By examining several in-depth case studies of both conflict and cooperation, it argues that increasing sub-national water conflict is driven by two inter-linked forces, identity politics, which gives subnational politicians a reason to compete over shared water resources; and political decentralization, which provides them with the tools to do so. To understand politics at the subnational level, the book blends insights from both the environmental governance and comparative politics literatures. By examining the challenges many countries face in achieving cooperation over shared water resources, this book helps to shed light on different mechanisms and processes for solving cooperation problems at the regional scale lessons relevant to tackling a wide range of transboundary environmental problems, including air pollution, urbanization, and ecosystem protection. But at its core, Subnational Hydropolitics promises a definitive contribution to the growing sub-field of environmental politics, centered on understanding how different countries attempt to solve the problems inherent in governing water resources in shared river basins. https://www.scottmoorephd.com/home daily 1.0 2022-04-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624d62f596c9c42862af44f8/e5279a18-aa86-4b34-8bb6-3339a07218ca/comp_R3_Moore_ChinasNextAct.jpg Home https://www.scottmoorephd.com/commentary-and-other-writing daily 0.75 2026-01-14 https://www.scottmoorephd.com/project-portfolio daily 0.75 2024-08-16 https://www.scottmoorephd.com/consulting daily 0.75 2022-04-19 https://www.scottmoorephd.com/research daily 0.75 2026-01-14 https://www.scottmoorephd.com/teaching daily 0.75 2026-01-14