Dawn Murphy is an associate professor of national security strategy at the National War College. Prior to joining the National War College, her academic appointments included associate professor of international security studies at the U.S. Air War College, visiting assistant professor of political science at the George Washington University, and postdoctoral research fellow with the Princeton (Columbia)-Harvard China and the World Program at Princeton University.  

Murphy specializes in Chinese foreign policy and domestic politics, U.S.-China relations, and international relations. Her research analyzes China’s interests and behavior as a rising global power toward the existing international order. She examines China’s relations with the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa in her book China’s Rise in the Global South: The Middle East, Africa, and Beijing’s Alternative World Order (Stanford University Press, 2022). Her book analyzes China’s foreign policy approach toward the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa regionally (e.g., political, economic, military, and foreign aid) and through detailed case studies of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China’s special envoy on the Middle East issue, China’s special envoy on African affairs, China’s special envoy for Syria, China’s naval base in Djibouti, and China’s Belt and Road Initiative. 

Murphy holds a BS in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University, an MA in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a PhD in political science from the George Washington University.