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Elizabeth Economy

Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Dr. Elizabeth Economy is the C.V. Starr senior fellow and director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She has published widely on both Chinese domestic and foreign policy. Her most recent book, The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future, won the 2005 International Convention on Asia Scholars Award for the best social sciences book published on Asia. 

Dr. Economy has also published articles in foreign policy and scholarly journals including Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review, Survival, and Current History; and op-eds in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and International Herald Tribune, among others. Her most recent article, “The G-2 Mirage,” in the May/June 2009 issue of Foreign Affairs, explores the complex layers of the U.S.-China relationship and the limitations to upgrading bilateral cooperation. She is also a frequent guest on nationally broadcast radio and television programs, has testified before Congress on numerous occasions, and regularly consults for U.S. government agencies and companies. She is currently working on a new book focusing on the implications of China's economic rise.

Dr. Economy received her PhD from the University of Michigan, her AM from Stanford University and her BA from Swarthmore College. In 2008, she received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Vermont Law School.