Elsa B. Kania

Adjunct Senior Fellow, Technology and National Security Program

Research Areas

Elsa B. Kania is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the CNAS Technology and National Security Program, and she will receive her PhD from Harvard University's Department of Government as of fall 2025. Her research focuses on China's military strategy, command capabilities, defense innovation initiatives, and emerging technologies. Elsa has been invited to testify before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and the National Commission on Service. Her writings and commentary have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politico, and Defense One, among others, and her academic research has been published in The Journal of Strategic Studies and The Cyber Defense Review. She maintains working proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.

Elsa has extensive analytical experience and has engaged with a range of institutions on issues including China's military-civil fusion strategy, military learning, innovation capabilities, and defense technology competition. Her previous positions include as a Visiting Scholar, DKI Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies; Associate, US Air Force China Aerospace Studies Institute; Non-Resident Fellow, Institute for the Study of War; Visiting Scholar, Taiwan Center for Security Studies; Visiting Fellow, Military Transformations Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies; Non-Resident Fellow, International Cyber Policy Centre, Australian Strategic Policy Institute; and Research Fellow, Center for Security and Emerging Technology, among others. Elsa was previously a Fulbright Specialist in Australia and named an official “Mad Scientist” by the U.S. Army’s Training and Doctrine Command. She has been quoted in outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and The Economist.

Ms. Kania is also a graduate of Harvard College (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and received a Master of Arts in Government from Harvard University. At Harvard, she worked as a research assistant through the Belfer Center and Weatherhead Center, and she was a Boren Scholar and intern with the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing. Her views are her own and do not represent any institution with which she is affiliated or otherwise associated.