Areas of Expertise

• Strategic Competition
• China
• Disinformation
• Hybrid Threats 
• European Union

Academic Degrees

• Habilitation (Prof.), International Relations/Political Science, Jacobs University Bremen and Bundeswehr University, Munich
• Ph.D., Political Science, Freie Universitaet, Berlin
• Master of Science in European Studies, London School of Economics and Political Science, London
• “Vordiplom” (Bachelor-Equivalent), Freie Universitaet, Berlin

Prof. Dr. May-Britt U. Stumbaum joined the Marshall Center in December 2023 and is a Professor of Security Studies and Strategic Competition. Her particular area of focus is Strategic Competition with China. Prof. Dr. Stumbaum also serves as a reservist lieutenant colonel in the German Airforce.

Prior to joining the Marshall Center, Prof. Dr. Stumbaum worked as the Team Lead Asia Pacific at the Bundeswehr University, Munich (2020-2023), led the EU’s internal think tank on Asia #APRAN (2016-2020), served in an international research group on Asia-EU security issues at the FU Berlin (2010-2016), and worked as Executive Director, China and Global Security Program, SIPRI, on the DoD-funded Minerva project “Technology and National Security in China.” She has worked at renowned research institutions in Asia (including CASS, Beijing, and Academica Sinica/NTU, Taipei), the United States (including Harvard), and Europe (including EPC, DGAP), and regularly at the German MOD (LTC (R)/Political Dept.). She is also Director of The SPEAR Institute. Prof. Dr. Stumbaum advises the EU and the German government and testified to the United States Congress in 2012.

Prof. Dr. Stumbaum has won multiple awards, among them the highly competitive European Foreign and Security Policies Studies Grant (Ph.D. full scholarship from three European foundations) and Fellowships by the EU Institute for Security Studies, DAAD/American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation (Harvard).