Publications

 Here is a listing of some of my recent reports, testimony, and commentary on Chinese military innovation and defense technological development for those looking for further reading on these issues.

​

Reports 

​

• Elsa B. Kania “Battlefield Singularity: Artificial Intelligence, Military Revolution, and China’s Future Military Power,” Center for a New American Security, November 28, 2017.

• Michael Horowitz, Elsa Kania, Gregory Allen, and Paul Scharre, “Strategic Competition in an Era of Artificial Intelligence,” Center for a New American Security, July 25, 2018.

• Elsa Kania and John Costello, “The Strategic Support Force and the Future of Chinese Information Operations,” Cyber Defense Review, Summer 2018.

• Elsa Kania, “Technological Entanglement: Cooperation, Competition and the Dual-Use Dilemma in Artificial Intelligence,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute, June 28, 2018.

• Elsa Kania, “The PLA’s Unmanned Aerial Systems – New Capabilities for a “New Era” of Chinese Military Power,” U.S. Air Force China Aerospace Studies Initiative, August 10, 2018.

• Elsa B. Kania and John K. Costello, “Quantum Hegemony? – China’s Ambitions and the Challenge to U.S. Innovation Leadership,” Center for a New American Security, September 12, 2018.

​

Testimony 

​

• “China’s Threat to American Government and Private Sector Research and Innovation Leadership,” Testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, July 19, 2018 

• “Chinese Advances in Unmanned Systems and Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence—the PLA’s Trajectory towards Unmanned, “Intelligentized” Warfare,” Testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, February 23, 2017.

​

Analysis and Commentary

​

• “Made in China 2025, In Perspective,” The Diplomat, February 1, 2019,

• "War Books: Chinese Military Innovation in Perspective,” Modern War Institute, January 28, 2019.

• “Why China’s Military Wants to Beat the US to a Next-Gen Cell Network,” Defense One, January 8, 2019.

• “Challenges of Technology, Innovation, and Competition in the New Year,” The Hill, December 29, 2018,

• “China’s Strategic Support Force at Three,” The Diplomat, December 29, 2018.

• “Artificial Intelligence in Future Chinese Command Decision-Making,” in “AI, China, Russia, and the Global Order: Technological, Political, Global, and Creative Perspectives,” A Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) Periodic Publication, December 2018.

• “The Much Ado About Huawei Continues,” Lawfare, December 19, 2018.

• “Enthusiasm and Challenges in China’s Embrace of AI,” in “The China Dream Goes Digital: Technology in the Age of Xi,” European Council on Foreign Relations, October 2018.

• “Strategic competition beyond confrontation with China,” The Hill, October 29, 2018.

• “Discourse and Chinese Power,” Party Watch Initiative, November 27, 2018.

• “Quantum Surprise on the Battlefield,” Mad Scientist Initiative, September 20, 2018.

• “China Has a Space Force.’ What Are Its Lessons for the Pentagon?” Defense One, September 29, 2018.

• “China’s Quantum Future – Xi’s Quest to Built a High-Tech Superpower,” Foreign Affairs, September 26, 2018,

• “Huawei and the ambiguity of China’s intelligence and counter-espionage laws,” The Strategist, with Samantha Hoffman, September 13, 2018.

• “China’s Ambitions in Artificial Intelligence – A Challenge to the Future of Democracy,” Power 3.0, August 8, 2018.

• “China’s AI Giants Can’t Say No to the Party,” Foreign Policy, August 2, 2018.

• “Spooky Action: Sorting Hype from Reality in China’s Quantum-Tech Quest,” Defense One, July 17, 2018.

• “China’s Challenge to U.S. Quantum Competitiveness,” The Hill, June 30, 2018.
• “China’s play for global 5G dominance—standards and the ‘Digital Silk Road,” The Strategist, June 27, 2018.

• “New Frontiers of Chinese Defense Innovation,” SITC Research Brief, May 12, 2018.

• “Rivalry in Rejuvenation—Seeking New Paradigms for U.S.-China Strategic Competition,” The Strategy Bridge, April 24, 2018.

• “Careful what you wish for—change and continuity in China’s cyber threat activities (Parts 1 and 2), The Strategist, April 5/9, 2018.

• “China’s strategic arsenals in a new era,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 20, 2018.

•  “The Pursuit of AI is More Than an Arms Race,” Defense One, April 19, 2018.

• “China’s Strategic Ambiguity and Shifting Approach to Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems,” Lawfare, April 17, 2018.

• “China’s quest for political control and military supremacy in the cyber domain,” The Strategist, March 16, 2018.

• “Is China Seeking Quantum Surprise?,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March 1, 2018

• “China’s AI Agenda Advances,” The Diplomat, February 14, 2018.

• “Chinese Sub Commanders May Get AI Help for Decision-Making,” Defense One, February 12, 2018.

• “The Party Commands the Net,” Party Watch, January 15, 2018.

• “The Human Factor of the PLA’s “Unmanned” Systems,” The Strategy Bridge, December 13, 2017.

• “The U.S. Must Match China’s All-of-Nation Push in AI,” Defense One, December 8, 2017​

• “Artificial Intelligence and Chinese Military Power,” Foreign Affairs, December 5, 2017.

• “Seeking a Panacea: the Party-State’s Plans for Artificial Intelligence” (Parts 1 and 2), Party Watch, October 31 and November 15, 2017.

• “The Critical Human Element in the Machine Age of Warfare,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November 15, 2017.

• “China Could Become an Innovation Superpower,” The Hill, November 6, 2017.

• “The Policy Dimension of Leading in AI,” Lawfare, October 19, 2017.

• “The Party’s ‘Hurdles’: the Internet, Propaganda, and Power,” The Diplomat, September 27, 2017.

• “Great Power Competition and the AI Revolution: A Range of Risks to Military and Strategic Stability,” Lawfare, September 19, 2017.

• “Trump Cards and Leapfrogging: The PLA's Trajectory from Asymmetry to Innovation​,” The Strategy Bridge, September 6, 2017. 

• “China’s Artificial Intelligence Revolution,” The Diplomat, July 27, 2017.   

• “The Dual-Use Dilemma in China’s New AI Plan: Leveraging Foreign Innovation Resources and Military-Civil Fusion,” Lawfare, July 28, 2017.

• “Swarms at War: Chinese Advances in Swarm Intelligence,” China Brief, July 6, 2017.

• China’s Quest for an AI Revolution in Warfare,” The Strategy Bridge, June 8, 2017.

• “Strategic Planning in the PLA,” The Diplomat, June 7, 2017.

• “When Will the PLA Finally Update Its Doctrine?,” The Diplomat, June 6, 2017.  

• “Beyond CFIUS: The Strategic Challenge of China’s Rise in Artificial Intelligence,” Lawfare, June 20, 2017.​

• “AlphaGo and Beyond: The Chinese Military Looks to Future “Intelligentized” Warfare, Lawfare, June 5, 2017. 

• “China’s War for Narrative Dominance,” The National Interest, May 28, 2017.

• “China’s Employment of Unmanned Systems: Across the Spectrum from Peacetime to Wartime,” 
Lawfare, May 22, 2017,

• “From the Third U.S. Offset to China’s First Offset – The Revolutionary Potential of Quantum Technologies,” The Strategy Bridge, April 6, 2017.

• “The PLA’s Potential Breakthrough in High-Power Microwave Weapons,” The Diplomat, March 11, 2017.

• “The Next U.S.-China Arms Race: Artificial Intelligence,” The National Interest, March 9, 2017. 

• “China’s Quest for Informatization Drives PLA Reforms,” The Diplomat, March 4, 2017,

• “The Strategic Support Force – A Force for Innovation?,” The Diplomat, February 23, 2017.

• “PLA Strategic Support Force: The 'Information Umbrella' for China's Military,” The Diplomat, April 1, 2017.

• “China May Soon Surpass America on the Artificial Intelligence Battlefield,” The National Interest, February 21, 2017.

• “The Next South China Sea Flashpoint? – Unmanned Systems, ” The Diplomat, December 26, 2016.

• “The Implications of the Three Warfares for Taiwan (Parts 1, 2, and 3),” Global Taiwan Brief, November 9, 2016, November 23, 2016, February 15, 2017.

• “The PLA’s Forthcoming Fifth-Generation Operational Regulations—The Latest “Revolution in Doctrinal Affairs”?” China Brief, April 21, 2016.

• “Active Defense in the Cyber Domain,” The Diplomat, June 12, 2015.