Phuong Mai Anh Tran is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Her research focuses on how the United States and China leverage scholarship programs for international students to enhance soft power and achieve development aims, particularly within the context of scholarship programs being integrated into the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals. Phuong’s primary research interests include international education, aid, and decolonial studies. Beyond that, she is also interested in South-South cooperation with a regional focus on East Asia and Southeast Asia.