home > the cfr think tank > experts > elizabeth c. economy
C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9641
E-mail: eeconomy@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
One-page bio (PDF, 57K)
Video clip (CR.MP4, 1.1 MB)
Video clip (WMV, 847K)
Award-winning author of The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenges to China’s Future. Currently writing a book on the implications of China’s global quest for natural resources.
Expertise:Chinese domestic and foreign policy; U.S.-China relations; global environmental issues.
Experience:Member, Board of Councilors, China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development; member, Global Agenda Council on the Future of China, World Economic Forum; member, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations; member, Research Council, Institute for International Research at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies (2000-2002); member, Selection Committee for the Woodrow Wilson Center’s International Scholars Program (1999-2000); Cochair, Woodrow Wilson Center Working Group on China and the Environment (1997-99); member, Selection Committee of MacArthur Foundation Research Writing Competition (1996-98); periodically consults for agencies of the U.S. government; professorial lecturer, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University (1997); Research Fellow, Columbia University (1994); Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese Foreign Policy, University of Washington (1993-94).
Languages:Chinese and Russian (familiar).
Honors:Received honorary degree from Vermont Law School (May 2008); The River Runs Black named best social sciences book published on Asia in 2003 or 2004 by the International Convention on Asia Scholars (June 2005); The River Runs Black named one of the top 10 books of 2004 by the Globalist; profiled in the National Journal’s special report on people whose ideas will help shape important policy issues after the 2004 presidential elections (May 2004).
Selected Publications:The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future (Cornell University Press, 2004); China Joins the World: Progress and Prospects (coeditor, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1999); The Internationalization of Environmental Protection (coeditor, Cambridge University Press, 1997); “China’s Olympic Nightmare,” Foreign Affairs, (co-author, July/August 2008); China in Africa: Implications for U.S. Policy, Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committe on Foreign Relations' Subcommittee on African Affairs Hearing (June 4, 2008); "Economic Miracle, Environmental Disaster: The Degradation of the Huai River Basin," What Matters (Sterling Publishing, March 2008); "China's Growing Ecological Footprint: Global Threat or Opportunity for Collaboration?" The United States, Russia, and China: Confronting Global Terrorism and Security Challenges in the 21st Century (Praeger Security International, 2008); "China's Real Environmental Challenge," Caijing Magazine (Annual Edition, 2008); "A Regional Security Complex in East Asia: The Reality and the Potential," The Environmental Dimension of Asian Security: Conflict and Cooperation over Energy, Resources, and Pollution (United States Institute of Peace Press, 2007); Inside China (contributing author, National Geographic, 2007); "The Great Leap Backward?" Foreign Affairs (September/October 2007); "Scorched Earth: Will Environmental Risks in China Overwhelm its Opportunities?" Harvard Business Review (2007); "China vs. Earth," The Nation (2007); China's Environmental Challenge, testimony before the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission Hearing (February 2, 2006); Environmental NGOs in China: Encouraging Action and Addressing Public Grievances, testimony before the Congressional Executive Commission on China Roundtable (February 7, 2005); "Don't Break the Engagement," Foreign Affairs (May/June 2004); "Interview with Elizabeth Economy: China's Development and the Environment," Harvard Asia Quarterly (Winter 2003); Beginning the Journey: China, the United States, and the WTO, report of the Independent Task Force (codirector, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2001); "Reforming China," Survival (Autumn 1999); "Painting China Green," Foreign Affairs (March/April 1999); and opeds and book reviews book published in the New York Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe, New York Newsday, and South China Morning Post.
Related Links:
CFR Fellow Elizabeth Economy’s The River Runs Black Named Best Social Sciences Book on Asia
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
December 12, 2008
Interview
Elizabeth Economy, CFR's director of Asian Studies, says that China's economy is now "losing steam very quickly" and that the "global economic crisis is going to make it much harder for China to address its own domestic economic problems."
See more in China, Economics, Financial Crises
December 1, 2008
Transcript
Session III of a Council on Foreign Relations Symposium on the U.S.-Japan Partnership: An Agenda for Change.
This session was part of the CFR Symposium on the U.S.-Japan Partnership: An Agenda for Change, cosponsored with the Asahi Shimbun.
See more in Japan, National Security and Defense
December 1, 2008
Video
Watch experts discuss how the United States and Japan can address critical security issues in northeast Asia, including the Six-Party Talks with North Korea.
This session was part of the CFR Symposium on the U.S.-Japan Partnership: An Agenda for Change, cosponsored with the Asahi Shimbun.
See more in Japan, National Security and Defense, Weapons of Mass Destruction
December 1, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss how the United States and Japan can address critical security issues in northeast Asia, including the Six-Party Talks with North Korea.
This session was part of the CFR Symposium on the U.S.-Japan Partnership: An Agenda for Change, cosponsored with the Asahi Shimbun.
See more in Japan, Defense Strategy, Weapons of Mass Destruction
December 1, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Elizabeth C. Economy writes that "China matters more to the world every day-not just on trade and finance but on climate change, food safety, nonproliferation and other global challenges."
See more in China
November 20, 2008
Op-Ed
TimeOut New York
Elizabeth Economy writes that "until China's leaders fix things at home, they can't really tackle the global problems abroad."
See more in China
November 13, 2008
Expert Brief
CFR's Elizabeth Economy and Adam Segal write that Chinese leadership in resolving the financial crisis is likely to be constrained.
See more in China, Financial Crises
August 27, 2008
Video
Watch experts discuss foreign policy challenges for the next administration at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, featuring a special address by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, cosponsored with the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies and the City and County of Denver's 2008 Rocky Mountain Roundtable.
This roundtable was underwritten, in part, by Chevron Corporation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
August 27, 2008
Audio
Watch experts discuss foreign policy challenges for the next administration at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, featuring a special address by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, cosponsored with the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies and the City and County of Denver's 2008 Rocky Mountain Roundtable.
This roundtable was underwritten, in part, by Chevron Corporation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
August 27, 2008
Transcript
A Roundtable discussion on the foreign policy challenged that the next presidential administration will face.
See more in United States, Congress, Foreign Policy History, U.S. Election 2008
August 6, 2008
Transcript
A CFR conference call on China's Olympic Nightmares and the impact that hosting the Olympics has had, and will have on China.
See more in China, Democracy and Human Rights, Economics, Energy/Environment, Society and Culture
June 24, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss China's energy challenges and the actions the country is taking on climate change.
See more in China, Climate Change, Energy
June 24, 2008
Video
Watch experts discuss China's energy challenges and the actions the country is taking on climate change.
See more in China, Climate Change, Energy
June 24, 2008
Transcript
Experts discuss China's energy development and the country's capabilities for addressing climate change.
See more in China, Energy/Environment, Climate Change
July/August 2008
Podcast
This audio includes readings of selected articles from the July/August 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs.
See more in United States, U.S. Strategy and Politics
July/August 2008
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
Failure to plan for predictable problems has turned China's coming-out party into an embarrassment.
See more in China, Society and Culture
July/August 2008
Podcast
From the July/August 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs: Failure to plan for predictable problems has turned China's coming-out party into an embarrassment.
See more in China, Society and Culture
December 3, 2007
Video
The confluence of energy and environmental policy issues and Campaign 2008 is explored in this second of a series of public meetings sponsored by CFR.org, the Economist, and NYU's Stern School of Business.
See more in Energy/Environment
October 15, 2007
Interview
CFR’s Elizabeth C. Economy says there are increasing calls for more democracy in China and the Communist Party Congress will have to deal with who will become the so-called “fifth generation” of Chinese leaders.
See more in China, Democracy Promotion
September 27, 2007
Podcast
If China ever agrees to binding greenhouse gas emissions caps, CFR’s Elizabeth Economy says the nation will need a “wholesale mindset change” to reach those goals.
See more in China, Climate Change
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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