James Lewis
Senior Fellow
Center for Strategic and International Studies
James Lewis is a senior fellow at CSIS and directs its Technology and Public Policy Program. Before joining CSIS, he was a member of the U.S. Foreign Service and Senior Executive Service, where he worked on national security and technology-related issues (including global arms sales, encryption, space remote sensing, and high-tech trade with China).
His diplomatic experience includes negotiations on military basing in Asia, military technology, the Cambodia peace process, and the five-power talks on arms transfer restraint. Lewis led the U.S. delegation to the Wassenaar Arrangement Experts Group for advanced civil and military technologies. He was also assigned to the U.S. Southern Command (for Just Cause), the U.S. Central Command (for Desert Shield), and the U.S. Central American Task Force. Lewis has authored numerous CSIS publications, including Building an Information Technology Industry in China: National Strategy, Global Markets (2007); Foreign Influence on Software: Risks and Recourse (2007); Waiting for Sputnik: Basic Research and Strategic Competition (2006); Globalization and National Security (2004); Spectrum Management for the 21st Century (2003); Assessing the Risk of Cyber Terrorism (2002); and Preserving America’s Strength in Satellite Technology (2001).
He appears frequently in the press and serves on several federal advisory boards. His current research involves innovation and economic change; Internet policy and information technology; space; and intelligence reform. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1984.