Zhanna L. Malekos Smith
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith, JD, is a senior associate with the Aerospace Security Project and Strategic Technologies Program at CSIS, a visiting fellow with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, and 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 appeared in the Los Angeles Times, POLITICO, Nature, 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. Zhanna has held fellowships with the Madeleine K. Albright Institute for Global Affairs, the Belfer Center’s Cyber Security Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, Duke University Law School, and Stanford University’s 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
Elon Musk's computerised brain, The Iron Claw, the UK Covid Inquiry, and Mickybo and Me
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in BBC — February 4, 2024
Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue: Quantum Technologies - Implications for International Peace & Security
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in UN Institute for Disarmament Research — December 1, 2023
Ethics for a better world: Ethics & AI
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in Global Association of Accountants — October 16, 2023
Cityforum: Managing Critical Events
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in Z/Yen Group — September 15, 2023
Preparing for the Quantum Computing Tipping Point
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in Carnegie Council — August 23, 2023
Technology Breakfast: Quantum and Cybersecurity
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith in UNIDIR Side Event to OEWG on ICTs — August 4, 2023
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
All Zhanna L. Malekos Smith Content
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The Quantum Man and the Sea of Risks
Commentary by Zhanna L. Malekos Smith — February 20, 2024
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