Marco R. Di Tommaso is Full Professor of Applied Economic Studies at Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna and co-founder and Director of CiMET, Italy's National University Centre for Applied Economic Studies. He is Life Member Fellow of Clare Hall College, University of Cambridge, Honorary Professor at South China University of Technology, and Senior Research Affiliate at the Berkeley Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Study Center (BASC), University of California, Berkeley. He is the author and co-author of 15 books and over 170 articles published in leading international journals.Vinod K. Aggarwal is Distinguished Professor and Alann P. Bedford Endowed Chair in Asian Studies, Department of Political Science; Affiliated Professor, Haas School of Business; Director of the Berkeley Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Study Center (BASC); and Fellow in the Public Law and Policy Center, Berkeley Law School, all at the University of California, Berkeley. He is Editor-in-Chief of thejournal Business and Politics, and has published 24 books and over 135 articles and book chapters. His latest books are Great Power Competition and Middle Power Strategies (2023) and The Oxford Handbook of Geoeconomics and Economic Statecraft (2025).