Professional Affiliation

Senior Foreign Service Officer, US Department of State

Expert Bio

Jim Mullinax is a Senior Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State with over 30 years of experience representing American economic interests in posts across Asia and in Washington D.C. His most recent overseas assignment was as U.S. Consul General in Chengdu, China from 2017 until the closure of the Consulate General in 2020. From 2021-2024 he was responsible for global and country specific sanctions programs as Director of the Office of Sanctions Policy and Implementation and Senior Advisor to the Sanctions Coordinator. He speaks Mandarin Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia and is married to the well-known food writer Tzu-i Chuang Mullinax.

Expertise

• Economics and Globalization
• Global Governance
• Security and Defense

Wilson Center Project

Economic Coercion: Mitigating Vulnerabilities from Totalitarian States

Project Summary

This project seeks to identify the economic tools totalitarian states use to pressure other states, subnational governments, organizations and individuals to adopt policies or take actions that advance the foreign policy goals of the totalitarian state and to explore ways to build resilience to this type of economic pressure.