Bonny Lin

Bonny Lin is director of the China Power Project and a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Her research focuses on Chinese foreign and defense policy, US-China competition, and cross-Strait security.

Previously, Lin served as acting associate director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program at RAND Project AIR FORCE and as a political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where she analysed China’s foreign and defense policy and US competition with China, including China’s use of gray-zone tactics against US allies and partners. Her research has informed senior leaders in the US Department of Defense, including military leaders at US Pacific Air Forces and US Army Pacific.

From 2015 to 2018, Lin served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where she held several positions, including director for Taiwan, country director for China, and senior adviser for China. She has testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee, and US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as an adjunct at the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA).

Lin holds a PhD in political science from Yale University, a master’s degree in Asian studies, with a focus on China, from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College.