Grace Simmons is an intern at ASPI USA. Her research area primarily focuses on US-China strategic competition, US-China-Taiwan triangular relations, and Taiwan engagement in the Indo Pacific.
Grace is an accelerated BA/MA student at the University of Oklahoma in the College of International Studies. She recently graduated Summa cum Laude, earning her Bachelor’s degree in International Studies with minors in Chinese and Criminal Investigation & Intelligence Analysis. She will go on to finish her Master’s in Global Studies in the Spring of 2026.
During her undergraduate degree, she performed research on the impacts of OU’s Newman Prize for English Jueju as a form of cultural diplomacy in track 1.5 and 2 dialogues with China. Additionally, she assisted in feedback for the launch of an interactive learning platform teaching English speakers to write Chinese poetry, and promotion of the Newman competition. Throughout her studies, she has been interested in writing about technoeconomic statecraft, great power competition, and IR theory.