Hi! I'm Hoang Trung "Alex" Vu

I'm an aspiring thinker and change-maker in the field of International Relations & Political Economy. I'm particularly interested in the quantitative study of conflicts & development, especially in the context of Southeast Asia. 

Some of my current topics include determinants of activities in the South China Sea, the causal relationship between development projects & corruption, and how Cyber Policies shape global orders. 

I'm currently studying Quantitative Economics & Econometrics and Political Science at the University of South Florida, where I've also contributed to student initiatives on Foreign Policy, through the John Quincy Adams Society and the Future Strategist Program, which includes our first-ever student-led conferences on the role of AI & quantum computing in Security Studies. 

I have also contributed to policy-related works at the Global & National Security Institute and the East-West Center in Washington. Before that, I worked for U.S. Representative Laurel Lee, serving the people of Florida's 15th District, and the Hillsborough County Tax Collector's Office, helping to change the infamous connotation attached to the DMV.

I was a 2025 Public Policy & International Affairs Junior Summer Institute at the Princeton School of Public & International Affairs, where I took graduate-level courses in Microeconomics, Statistics, and Policy Writing, which have significantly broadened my understanding of game theory, causal inference techniques, and academic & policy writing.