Download Bio: Dr. David Lai

BIOGRAPHY
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
Department of International Security Studies
Air War College / DFI
Maxwell AFB, AL 36112
(334) 953-7427 (O)
(334) 953-6980 (Fax)
[email protected]
Dr. David Lai
Dr. David Lai is Associate Professor of international security studies
and Director of the Center for Asian Strategic Studies at the Air War
College. Dr. Lai is also the Special Advisor to the Governor of
Alabama on Asian Affairs.
Dr. Lai earned his Ph.D. in political science from the University of
Colorado in 1997. His teaching and research interests are in
international relations theory, war and peace studies, comparative
foreign and security policy, US-China and US-Asian relations.
Growing up in Guangzhou, China, Lai witnessed China’s “Cultural
Revolution,” its economic reform, and the development in US-China
relations. Prior to his graduate study, Lai was a diplomat in the
Chinese Foreign Service.
Dr. Lai is also the Academic Advisor to the Air War College Regional
Studies program. In recent years, Dr. Lai has visited Japan, South
Korea, and Taiwan many times, gaining insights in the region’s political, economic, and security
dynamics.
Dr. Lai has published widely in his teaching and research areas. He is currently writing on some
pressing issues in the US-China-Taiwan, US-Asia relations, and Chinese strategic thinking in war and
diplomacy.
Dr. Lai’s wife Cindy Song is a software engineer. David and Cindy have a lovely daughter Michelle and
an energetic son Ryan.