Rana Mitter Keynote Speaker

Rana Mitter is a leading historian of modern China, blending rigorous scholarship with global relevance. As ST Lee Chair in US–Asia Relations at Harvard’s Kennedy School, he unites academic insight with policy conversation. His work bridges historical depth and contemporary geopolitics to illuminate China’s evolving place in the world.

His books including Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II (2013), awarded the RUSI/Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature and named a Book of the Year by The Economist and Financial Times, and China’s Good War: How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism (2020), have reshaped discussion of China’s wartime memory and its role in the present. He taught at Oxford for more than two decades prior to joining Harvard in 2023, where he served as Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China and Director of the University China Centre.

He has been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE, 2019) for services to education, and is a Fellow of the British Academy (elected in 2015). In 2020 he was awarded the Medlicott Medal for Service to History by the UK Historical Association. In 2024, he chaired the jury of the prestigious Cundill History Prize, guiding the selection of world-class historical works.

Rana is a frequent commentator in media and global forums, contributing to Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review, The Guardian, The Spectator, and speaking at Davos and other international events. His documentary Meanwhile in Beijing explores political narratives in contemporary China.

As a keynote speaker, Rana brings historical depth to contemporary challenges. He helps audiences navigate issues of nationalism, power transition, memory and identity, and US–China relations with clarity, relevance, and authority.