Professional Affiliation

Associate Professor of National Security Strategy at the US National War College, National Defense University

Expert Bio

Dr. Dawn Murphy, Associate Professor of National Security Strategy at the US National War College, specializes in Chinese foreign policy, US-China relations, and international relations. Her research analyzes China’s interests and behavior as a rising global power towards the existing international order.

Murphy examines China’s relations with the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa in her book China’s Rise in the Global South: The Middle East, Africa, and Beijing’s Alternative World Order (Stanford University Press, 2022). It analyzes China’s foreign policy approach towards the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa regionally (e.g., political, economic, military, and foreign aid) and through detailed case studies of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF), the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the China-Middle East Issues Special Envoy, the China-Africa Issues Special Envoy, China’s Special Envoy for Syria, China’s naval base in Djibouti, and China’s Belt and Road initiative. 

She holds a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from George Washington University. Her previous academic appointments include Associate Professor of International Security Studies at the US Air War College, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Princeton (Columbia)- Harvard China and the World Program at Princeton University. She also has private-sector manufacturing experience in China and the U.S.

Wilson Center Project

China’s Changing Views of, Interests In, and Approach to the Middle East

Project Summary

As competitive and adversarial aspects of U.S.-China relations develop globally, it is essential for academics and policymakers to better understand Beijing’s approach to regions around the world. This project examines China’s relations with a region vitally important to the United States: the Middle East. It analyzes Chinese-language journal articles; official People’s Republic of China government documents and speeches; and interviews with government officials, regional organizations, and scholars in Beijing, Washington, and the Middle East to answer the following questions: How and why have China’s views of, interests in, and approach to the Middle East changed since 2017? How does China view this region in the context of the concept of Great Changes Unseen in a Century? What is the role of the Middle East in Beijing’s global initiatives (e.g., Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative, and Community of Shared Future for Humankind)?