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China’s cyber, nuclear and advanced conventional weapon developments; China-India, China-Russia, and China-US strategic relations
Lora Saalman is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the East-West Center, an Associate Senior Fellow at SIPRI, and a Member of CISAC.
Formerly she served as vice president of the Asia-Pacific Program at the EastWest Institute and as director of the China and Global Security Program at SIPRI. She has also worked at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, Tsinghua University, Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, Observer Research Foundation, and Center for Nonproliferation Studies from which she earned a one-year fellowship at the International Atomic Energy Agency. She was among the first batch of recipients of the Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship.
She earned her bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Chicago, her master’s degree with a certificate in nonproliferation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and her PhD with an outstanding graduate student award and dissertation award from Tsinghua University, where she was the first American to earn a doctorate from its Department of International Relations, completing all of her coursework in Chinese.
Ongoing research includes:
- China’s strategic relations with India, Russia, and the United States
- Artificial intelligence and nuclear risk
- Hybrid warfare
- Nuclear modernization and deterrence
- Emerging technologies
Recent Publications
Ian Anthony, Fei Su, and Lora Saalman (2023). Naval Incident Management in Europe, East Asia and South East Asia, SIPRI.
Lora Saalman (2023). China's NFU as a Litmus Test for GFU, in Prakash Menon and Aditya Ramanathan, Eds. The Sheathed Sword: From Nuclear Brink to No First Use.
Lora Saalman, Fei Su, and Larisa Saveleva Dovgal (2022). Cyber Posture Trends in China, Russia, the United States and the European Union, SIPRI.
Lora Saalman (2022). China’s Military Advances Make Case for Strategic Stability Talks, Asia-Pacific Issues, East-West Center, No. 153.
Lora Saalman (2022). Navigating Chinese–Russian Nuclear and Space Convergence and Divergence, EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Papers, No. 78.
Lora Saalman, Petr Topychkanov, and Rouben Azizian, Eds. (2022). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Special Issue, National Security Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4.
Lora Saalman (2022). Multidomain Deterrence and Strategic Stability in China, SIPRI, No. 2022/2.
Lora Saalman (2022). Bilateral and Multilateral Nuclear Arms Control Involving China, Russia and the United States, in SIPRI Yearbook 2022.
Tytti Erästö, Vitaly Fedchenko, and Lora Saalman (2022). Chapter 11. Nuclear Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, in SIPRI Yearbook 2022.
Lora Saalman and Petr Topychkanov (2021). Reinvigorating South Asian Nuclear Transparency and Confidence-building Measures, SIPRI, No. 2021/3.
Lora Saalman is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the East-West Center, an Associate Senior Fellow at SIPRI, and a Member of CISAC.
Formerly she served as vice president of the Asia-Pacific Program at the EastWest Institute and as director of the China and Global Security Program at SIPRI. She has also worked at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, Tsinghua University, Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, Observer Research Foundation, and Center for Nonproliferation Studies from which she earned a one-year fellowship at the International Atomic Energy Agency. She was among the first batch of recipients of the Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship.
She earned her bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Chicago, her master’s degree with a certificate in nonproliferation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and her PhD with an outstanding graduate student award and dissertation award from Tsinghua University, where she was the first American to earn a doctorate from its Department of International Relations, completing all of her coursework in Chinese.
Ongoing research includes:
- China’s strategic relations with India, Russia, and the United States
- Artificial intelligence and nuclear risk
- Hybrid warfare
- Nuclear modernization and deterrence
- Emerging technologies
Recent Publications
Ian Anthony, Fei Su, and Lora Saalman (2023). Naval Incident Management in Europe, East Asia and South East Asia, SIPRI.
Lora Saalman (2023). China's NFU as a Litmus Test for GFU, in Prakash Menon and Aditya Ramanathan, Eds. The Sheathed Sword: From Nuclear Brink to No First Use.
Lora Saalman, Fei Su, and Larisa Saveleva Dovgal (2022). Cyber Posture Trends in China, Russia, the United States and the European Union, SIPRI.
Lora Saalman (2022). China’s Military Advances Make Case for Strategic Stability Talks, Asia-Pacific Issues, East-West Center, No. 153.
Lora Saalman (2022). Navigating Chinese–Russian Nuclear and Space Convergence and Divergence, EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Papers, No. 78.
Lora Saalman, Petr Topychkanov, and Rouben Azizian, Eds. (2022). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Special Issue, National Security Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4.
Lora Saalman (2022). Multidomain Deterrence and Strategic Stability in China, SIPRI, No. 2022/2.
Lora Saalman (2022). Bilateral and Multilateral Nuclear Arms Control Involving China, Russia and the United States, in SIPRI Yearbook 2022.
Tytti Erästö, Vitaly Fedchenko, and Lora Saalman (2022). Chapter 11. Nuclear Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, in SIPRI Yearbook 2022.
Lora Saalman and Petr Topychkanov (2021). Reinvigorating South Asian Nuclear Transparency and Confidence-building Measures, SIPRI, No. 2021/3.
