Zhanna L. Malekos Smith

Zhanna L. Malekos Smith, JD, is a senior associate (non-resident) with the Aerospace Security Project and Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She is also a fellow with the Army Cyber Institute at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Previously, she was an assistant professor in the Systems Engineering Department at West Point and a professor of cyber warfare studies with the U.S. Air War College. Her expertise spans cybersecurity, aerospace security, emerging technologies, and international security. Zhanna has appeared on CNN and NBC, and her commentary has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, POLITICO, Nature, The Hill, Physics Today, and elsewhere. A former captain and attorney in the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, she received her commission from the ROTC program at MIT, where she was a cross-registered student and participated in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. She holds a BA in Russian and international relations from Wellesley College, an MA and associateship of King’s College from King’s College London, Department of War Studies, and a JD from the University of California, Davis, where she pursued a self-concentration in cyberlaw. Zhanna has held fellowships with the Madeleine K. Albright Institute for Global Affairs, Belfer Center Cyber Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, Duke University Law School, and Stanford University U.S.-Russia Forum. She is a volunteer consultant for Hostage US, a nonprofit that supports the families of Americans taken hostage abroad and hostages when they return home.
Areas of Expertise
In the News
Full panel: ‘Within 200 years, it's easy to imagine … millions of people living in space’
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in NBC News — May 21, 2023
Early Start With Christine Romans
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in CNN — May 17, 2023
AeroSpace Power Conference 2023 Panel 1 "Strategy and Policy: Aerospace power, a New Continuum"
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in Aeronautica Militare — May 12, 2023
Law Experts Discuss Combating the Adversary
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in U.S. Department of Defense — April 18, 2023
Biden's New Cyber Strategy Puts Burden on Big Tech
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in CNN Early Start — March 3, 2023
A look at the cyber aspects of Russia’s war, on the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. And a few notes from elsewhere in cyberspace.
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in CyberWire — February 24, 2023
Human microchip implants take center stage
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in The Hill — January 23, 2023
U.S. and Japan lay foundation for new era of joint space exploration
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in The Japan Times — January 18, 2023
All content by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith
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There Are Tradeoffs in Governing the Metaverse
Critical Questions by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — March 13, 2023
Going Farther Together: The U.S.-Japan Space Pact Is an Accelerator
Critical Questions by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — February 2, 2023
The Political Reality inside Metaverse Cities
Critical Questions by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — October 17, 2022
A New ‘Bumper Sticker’ for Space Satellites
Commentary by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — August 22, 2022
Save the Last Dance for the International Space Station
Commentary by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — June 2, 2022
Emerging Cyber Threats: No State Is an Island in Cyberspace
Critical Questions by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — March 23, 2022
Russia Launches ‘Musical’ Space Salvo
Commentary by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — March 16, 2022
A Power Struggle over Ukraine’s Electrical Grid
Commentary by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — March 9, 2022
Make Haste Slowly for Quantum
Commentary by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — February 11, 2022
When Elephants Fight in Outer Space
Commentary by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — January 12, 2022