Elizabeth Van Wie Davis: Addressing the Impact of Cyber Warfare

Elizabeth Van Wie Davis is a noted academic, professor, and expert on the political realities facing countries throughout Asia. Dr. Davis has authored four books centered on the policies and geopolitics of countries throughout Asia. Now working on her fifth, which is titled Ethics of Non-War in Asia, she is assessing the role of technologies of robots, drones and cyber warfare are playing in conflict in the Asia and the world. A topic that is enhanced by her time at Mines, cyber warfare is a new age in human conflict that now characterizes the interactions of a significant group of states.  As a new technology in warfare, not all preexisting terms and concepts neatly apply. For instance, cyber warfare is too often entangled with cybercrime, cyber terrorism, and cyber espionage.  While cyber warfare can be broadly defined as hostile attempts by one nation to penetrate another’s computers or networks, the technology itself allows the aggressors—and responders—to disguise themselves.

Elizabeth Van Wie Davis: An Expert on China

Elizabeth Van Wie Davis is considered a formidable expert on both Chinese and Asian politics and security. The author of four books centered on Asian energy policies and geopolitics, she is completing her fifth book on cyberwarfare in Asia. Professor of International Relations at the Colorado School of Mines, Dr. Davis is often looked to for well-informed insight and opinion those policies and political issues affecting countries throughout the region.

Further adding to her expertise is her firsthand experience in Chinese culture. Over the course of her career, Davis was fortunate to have moved and traveled through multiple cities and areas of China. This experience, along with the opportunities she once enjoyed to advise prominent members of US leadership, including former President George H.W. Bush, have helped to both inform and augment her position as a foremost and trusted expert on issues and events affecting the Asian region. 

Elizabeth Van Wie Davis served as Program Manager and Professor for the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, an educational institution and think tank, from 2000 to 2009.