Pooja Thakur-Wernz is the Next Speaker in the Anne and Edgar Basse Jr. Author Talk Series Thakur-Wernz will deliver a lecture about the impact of geopolitical rivalries on emerging markets on Nov. 9.

By Emily Innes Stanley
November 2, 2026

Pooja Thakur-Wernz, assistant professor of business administration, will deliver a lecture titled “Choosing Not to Choose: Emerging Markets in an Age of Rising Geopolitical Rivalry” at Washington and Lee University at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 9 in the Houston H. Harte Center Gallery in Leyburn Library. The talk is free and open to the public, and a light lunch will be provided.

The lecture is sponsored by The Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics and the University Library and is part of the library’s Anne and Edgar Basse Jr. (’39) Endowment, which was created in 1988 to support the varied activities of the University Library Special Collections and Archives.

As rivalry between the United States and China grows, emerging markets such as India, Vietnam and Brazil face increasing pressure to take sides, yet many are trying to maintain close economic and political relationships with both powers. In her talk, Thakur-Wernz will explore how emerging markets navigate growing tensions between major powers and what their choices mean for foreign direct investment and for multinational companies from these countries. She will discuss how staying in the middle can offer economic advantages but also become a more difficult position to maintain as the rivalry deepens, raising the question of how much freedom countries and businesses possess to chart their own course in an increasingly divided world.

“Choosing not to choose sides in the growing geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China may sound like indecision, but, for many countries, it is a deliberate strategy to maintain relationships with both powers,” Thakur-Wernz said. “My research explores how long countries can sustain this balancing act and how geopolitical relationships influence foreign investment decisions by multinational firms. I hope this talk encourages the audience to see geopolitics not simply as a source of conflict, but as a force reshaping global business and economic opportunities.”

Thakur-Wernz, who joined W&L in 2020, holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Osmania University (India), an MBA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in management from Rutgers University. Her research has appeared in leading journals in strategic management and international business, and she serves on the editorial review board of the Journal of International Business Policy.