Sophie Bryant

2024 Fellow

Sophie is currently pursuing an MPhil in Global and Area Studies at Merton College as a Rhodes Scholar. Originally from Moscow, she lived in Shanghai for five years before moving to her current home in the Adirondacks. She holds a BA from Columbia University in East Asian studies and mathematics and has conducted research at various think tanks, including the Council on Foreign Relations, the Brookings Institution, and Carnegie China. These engagements solidified her interests in Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Central Asian security, and Sino-Russian relations. Her current Master’s thesis examines how Soviet-era legacies and Kazakh nationalism inform public sentiment toward Chinese private and public sector involvement in Kazakhstan, especially in the tumultuous context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.