Faculty

Profile

Kathleen (Kate) Walsh is an Associate Professor of National Security Affairs in the National Security Affairs (NSA) Department (formerly National Security Decision Making Department/NSDM) at the US Naval War College, where she teaches Policy Analysis.  She also has co-taught electives on China's National Security (Fall-FE 613)) and on the History of Technology: East and West (Spring-EL512) ).  In addition, Walsh serves on the Faculty Advisory Board for the student journal, Lucent: A Journal of National Security Studies, is an affiliate of the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI), and participates in NWC's Asia Pacific Studies Group (APSG).  She is a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, the US Council on Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), and Naval War College Foundation (NWCF), among other professional organizations.

Professor Walsh's research focuses on China and the Asia-Pacific region, particularly security and technology issues. Her current research includes assessing national security implications of China's science and technology (S&T) development, defense innovation and military modernization efforts in an age of globalization, as well as the role played by foreign R&D investment in China's development.  In 2010-11, she chaired a study group examining "China's Defense Innovation System" and co-authored a paper on the topic as part of DoD's China Minerva program, the findings for which were presented at the a government workshop and the second annual China Dual-Use Defense Science, Technology and Innovation conference at the University of Southern California, San Diego (UCSD) Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), proceedings of which were published in Oct 2011 in New Perspectives on Assessing The Chinese Defense Economy: 2011 Industry Overview and Policy Briefs, Tai Ming Cheung, ed..  A book chapter is forthcoming from Johns Hopkins University Press. Walsh is currently drafting a paper for the 2012 China Minerva conference on China's defense R&D.  Other ongoing projects include studying the modernization of China's commercial shipbuilding industry and implications from China's increasing role in UN peacekeeping operations (a joint CMSI-SIPRI research project). 

Walsh recently served as a member of the National Research Council's Study Group on Global S&T Strategies and their Effect on US National Security (2009-10) and co-wrote the subsequent report, S&T Strategies of Six Countries: Implications for the United States.  In 2008, she served as a Member of the Office of Director of National Intelligence's Summer Hard Problem (SHARP) Program, and she was appointed in 2007 as a member of the National Research Council's Committee on Assessing the Need for a National Defense Stockpile, which issued a report on Managing Materials for a 21^st Century Military (2008). 

Walsh is author of numerous publications, including most recently: "China's National Security Strategy: A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery, Inside an Enigma," book chapter in Providing for National Security: A Comparative Perspective, Andrew M. Dorman and Joyce Kaufman, eds. (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2012); "The 21st Century Military: Dealing with the Other Parts of the DIME-C Challenge," NWC/NSA curriculum required reading (July 2012);  "Globalization, China's Rise, and DoD's Rare Earth Conundrum," NWC/NSA curricuclum case study (July 2011);  “Enhanced Information Sharing in the Asia Pacific: Establishing a Regional Cooperative Maritime Operations Center,” in Strategic Manoeuvres: Security in the Asia-Pacific, James Veitch, ed. (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand: Centre for Strategic Studies, December 2009); "The Role, Promise and Challenges of Dual-Use Technologies in National Defense," Chapter 7 in The Modern Defense Industry: Political, Economic and Technological Issues, Richard A. Bitzinger, ed. (Praeger, 2009); "National Security Challenges and Competition: Defense and Space R&D in the Chinese Strategic Context," Technology in Society (July 2008); Post-Conflict Borders and UN Peace Operations: Part 1: Border Security, Trade Controls, and UN Peace Operations (Henry L. Stimson Center, 2007); and Foreign High-Tech R&D in China: Risks, Rewards, and Implications for US-China Relations (Stimson Center, 2003), as well as numerous Congressional testimonies, public presentations, and high-level government briefings.

Prior to joining the NWC in January 2006, Walsh was a senior independent consultant to several Washington-area think tanks (e.g., CSIS, Monterey Institute, and Stimson Center), was Senior Associate at the Stimson Center (2000-04), and Senior Associate at DFI International, a defense consulting firm (1997-2000), where she worked on issues related to China, Asian regional security, and other security issues arising from globalization and their impact on US national security for US Government clients.  Walsh has a Master of Arts degree in International Security Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

In the news...

DefenseTech (June 29, 2012) -- "China Caught the U.S. in Manufacturing, High-Tech Weapons Might Be Next
http://defensetech.org/2012/06/29/china-caught-the-u-s-in-education-and-manufacturing-high-tech-weapons-are-next/

Upcoming:
Conference on China's Defense Science, Technology & Industrial Base, UCSD/IGCC (7-19-20)