Under the Nuclear Shadow: China's Information-Age Weapons in International Security

Описание: On Monday, February 23, 2026 at 5:00 PM HST, Dr. Fiona S. Cunningham joined us to discuss her new book, Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security (Princeton University Press, 2025). How can states use military force to achieve their political aims without triggering a catastrophic nuclear war? Among the states facing this dilemma of fighting limited wars, only China has given information-age weapons such a prominent role. While other countries have preferred the traditional options of threatening to use nuclear weapons or fielding capabilities for decisive conventional military victories, China has instead chosen to rely on offensive cyber operations, counterspace capabilities, and precision conventional missiles to coerce its adversaries. In Under the Nuclear Shadow, Fiona Cunningham examines this distinctive aspect of China’s post-Cold War deterrence strategy, developing an original theory of “strategic substitution.” When crises with the United States highlighted the inadequacy of China’s existing military capabilities, Cunningham argues, China pursued information-age weapons that promised to rapidly provide credible leverage against adversaries. Drawing on hundreds of original Chinese language sources and interviews with security experts in China, Cunningham provides a rare and candid glimpse from Beijing into the information-age technologies that are reshaping how states gain leverage in the twenty-first century.

Fiona Cunningham is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a Faculty Fellow at Perry World House and affiliated with the Center for the Study of Contemporary China and the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cunningham’s research interests lie the intersection of technology and conflict, with an empirical focus on China. Her research has appeared in academic and policy-oriented outlets including International Security, Security Studies, and The Washington Quarterly. She has held fellowships at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is a research affiliate with the MIT Security Studies Program and holds nonresident affiliations with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and National Security College at the Australian National University. Dr. Cunningham received her Ph.D. in Political Science from MIT in 2018. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney, both with first class honors. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University.

Elsa B. Kania joined us as a discussant for this webinar. Dr. Kania is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Center for a New American Security’s Technology and National Security Program. Dr. Kania received her MA and PhD in Political Science from Harvard University’s Department of Government, and she is also a graduate of Harvard College (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). Her research focuses on China’s military strategy, command capabilities, defense innovation, and emerging technological developments, as well as cross-Strait security and deterrence challenges. Her writings and commentary have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politico, and Defense One, among others, and her academic research has been published in The Journal of Strategic Studies and The Cyber Defense Review. Dr. Kania has been invited to testify before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and the National Commission on Service. She has been a visiting scholar with the DKI Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, fellow with the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations, Visiting Scholar with the Taiwan Center for Security Studies, and Fulbright Specialist at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre. She maintains working proficiency in Mandarin Chinese. Her views are her own.

Dr. Shuxian Luo (Assistant Professor of Asian Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa) moderated this webinar.

This webinar was hosted by the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs and cosponsored by the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.