Dr. Kaewkamol Karen Pitakdumrongkit is Deputy Head and Assistant Professor at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She completed her MA and PhD in Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S.A. Her research interests include international economic negotiations, East Asian economic governance, relationships between regional and global economic governance, ASEAN Economic Community, and political socialization. Beside research, she teaches courses on International Economics for International Political Economy, and the Political Economy of Southeast Asia at the RSIS Masters programme in International Political Economy.