Steven Langendonk
Curriculum vitae
Steven Langendonk is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair of International Political Economy in the project: “Learning Empire. Autonomy, Dependence and China’s Emerging Imperial Practices”. He is additionally developing a database on Chinese diplomacy (since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949). He has advised the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of various EU member states and the EEAS on China’s role in the United Nations and presented his research at the ISA 2024 Panel on China at the United Nations in San Francisco.
Steven Langendonk studied History (2014-2017) before completing his Master’s in Comparative and International Politics (2017-2018), both at KU Leuven. This was followed by the Doctoral Programme in the Social Sciences (2019-2024), also at KU Leuven, on the topic of “Decoding Chinese diplomatic behaviour in international organisations: domestic logics of action meet multilateral order”.
Full CV
2025-present: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair of International Political Economy of the Helmut Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg
- Research topics: Practice and history of Chinese diplomacy; narrative in international relations
- Projects: DFG Forschungsgruppe “Learning Empire. Autonomy, Dependence and China’s Emerging Imperial Practices”
- Associate Researcher at Leuven International and European Studies (LINES), KU Leuven
2019-2025: Doctoral Programme in the Social Sciences 2019-2024
Doctoral School for the Humanities and Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
- Research topic: “Decoding Chinese diplomatic behaviour in international organisations: domestic logics of action meet multilateral order”.
- Research scope: A mix of interviews, in-person observation of Chinese multilateral diplomacy, and historical cases is combined with comparative analysis of domestic rhetoric, laws, policies, and debates to draw out how Chinese multilateral diplomacy is understood, organised, and practised.
- Deliverables: practically applicable insights on how Chinese diplomats behave in multilateral settings, a theoretically relevant argument about Chinese diplomacy in International Relations, and a set of methodological innovations in interpretative analysis of international relations.
- Funding: Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) fundamental research fellowship 2020- 2024 (11J7721N)
Research
- Research Priorities
- Practice and history of Chinese diplomacy
- Narratives in international relations
Publications
Selected Publications
- Langendonk, S. and Drieskens, E. (2025). Securitization between narrative and practice: a praxis perspective
on the multilateral securitization of Orthodox heritage in Kosovo between 1999 and 2011. Journal of
Global Security Studies - Langendonk, S. and Drieskens, E. (2024). Chinese power in the World Heritage Committee: from learning
the game to shaping the rules. Global Policy, 15(2). - Langendonk, S. (2022). Multilateralism in China’s foreign relations: A normative-rhetorical tool for suasion
and system reform. EU-China relations at a crossroads, Vol. I: Looking for a new modus vivendi. European
Policy Centre.
Letzte Änderung: 28. May 2025