Nationality American | Name Elizabeth Wie | |
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Known for Islam, Oil and Geopolitics: Central Asia after September 11 Books China and the Law of the Sea Convention: Follow the Sea., Islam, Oil and Geopolitics: Central Asia after September 11 | ||
Elizabeth Van Wie Davis (born 1958) is an American academic specializing in international affairs. She is most known for co-editing the 2006 book, Islam, Oil and Geopolitics: Central Asia after September 11. She has written two books, titled Ruling, Resources and Religion, and Follow the Sea. She edited Chinese Perspectives on Sino-American Relations
Contents
Education
Davis received her BA in Liberal Arts from Shimer College, where she enrolled at the age of 16 through the school's early entrance program. She went on to obtain her PhD in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia in 1985. Her dissertation was a study of East Asian maritime law, titled Oceans Policy: A New Search for Cooperation.
Career
Davis has served on the faculties of Mary Baldwin College, Illinois State University, and Johns Hopkins University's SAIS Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China. She has worked and lived in Asia for several years with her initial academic research being focused on China. While she was at the Johns Hopkins University SAIS, she met George Bush several times regarding China issues.
Davis worked at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. After 17 years in academia, Davis took a hiatus to work for the US Government on issues related to Asia. Based in Hawaii, she travelled regularly to Asia to work on issues of preventive diplomacy. These USG projects included discussions on China with Pakistan, aiding Bangladesh during a difficult political time, and working with the Nepalese officials during the transition from monarchy to representative democracy as well as a citation for her work on the EP3 incident. Her work on US-China relations earned her numerous awards including the 2008 Federal Executive Board "Outstanding Leader" Award that recognized her international relations leadership. Her research and field work experience also provided a framework of multi-perspective dialogue that aided Nepalese officials in the transition from monarchy to representative democracy.
After serving as the Director of Liberal Arts and International Studies Department at the Colorado School of Mines, in 2014 she accepted the position of Vice Dean for Research at Nazarbayev University,which she held for one year, where she promoted scholarship on the dynamics within Asia and a framework of multi-perspective dialogue. Currently, Davis continues her scholarship on dynamics within Asia as professor in the Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies at the Colorado School of Mines.
Books
Davis has written two books and edited two others. Her first book, published by Edwin Mellen Press, was entitled China And The Law Of The Sea Convention: Follow The Sea, which was published in 1995. The book presents the first comprehensive overview and analysis of the Law of the Sea Treaty and the application to and involvement of China. Her edited book Chinese Perspectives On Sino-American Relations was published in 2000 by Edwin Mellen Press and includes a collection of essays written by her students that address the questions related to many episodes of crisis and conflicts in the US – China relations and the cooperation that occurred.
Islam, Oil and Geopolitics
Islam, Oil and Geopolitics: Central Asia after September 11, co-edited with Rouben Azizian, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2006. The book offers analyses of the issues of Islam, oil and geopolitics in Central Asia from the perspectives of China, Russia, the Central Asian republics, Mongolia, and the United States. The book received positive reviews. Turkish Weekly wrote “The publication is a welcome volume for the field of Central Asian studies in particular and international relations in general” and the Asian Affairs called it "readable and ambitious compilation." APCSS wrote that "the book offers many insights that can help predict the most likely development of the fascinating Central Asian saga."
Ruling, Resources and Religion in China
Davis’s latest book (her second single authored book) Ruling, Resources and Religion in China: Managing the Multiethnic State in the 21st Century was published in 2012 by Palgrave. It analyzes the trends of governance that offer insight into China’s future policy—domestic, security, and foreign—that will have repercussions for the world. In a review of the book, Royal Society of Asian Affairs wrote that "Davis insightfully highlights both the short-term achievements of and the possible long-term problems associated with the tactics that the Chinese state employs to keep ethnic minority groups under some control."