Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Freund Larus was quoted by BBC News in an article titled “Will the spillover effect of the US surprise attack on Iran cover North Korea and the Taiwan Strait? Asia-Pacific region hotly discusses Trump’s muscle flexing.” In the article, Larus, who serves as an Adjunct Senior Fellow at Pacific Forum, provided expert analysis on regional geopolitical implications, noting that if the U.S. mission against Iran’s nuclear weapons is ultimately successful, Beijing will grudgingly realize again that the United States is not a “wounded hegemon.” Read the article.

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs and Adjunct Senior Fellow at Pacific Forum Elizabeth Freund Larus

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs and Adjunct Senior Fellow at Pacific Forum Elizabeth Freund Larus was invited by the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom to speak at the Indo-Pacific Roundtable 2025.

Larus’s panel focused on China’s relations in Northeast Asia, and she assessed Taiwan’s readiness to an invasion or embargo by China. Larus indicated that Taiwan is unprepared to respond to influence operations as well as military aggression from China, and that China’s Shuiqiao 水桥 extendable oversea road bridges are just the latest maritime military development that could facilitate China’s invasion of Taiwan.

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs and Adjunct Senior Fellow at Pacific Forum Elizabeth Freund Larus

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs and Adjunct Senior Fellow at Pacific Forum Elizabeth Freund Larus published her book chapter, “Taiwan: One of the Most Dangerous Places in the World” in Contemporary Security Problems (Lublin: UMCS Press, 2024).

The May 1, 2021 cover of the Economist magazine declared that Taiwan is “the most dangerous place on Earth.” Similarly, the WEF’s annual Global Risk reports since 2022 have labeled Taiwan as a dangerous hot spot because of its proximity to the PRC. The chapter, co-authored with Polish scholar and Professor Larus’ Fulbright host Agata Ziętek, analyzes the potential for cross-Strait conflict by examining the conditions contributing to tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Professor Larus regularly travels to Taiwan. Despite the chapter title, she finds Taiwan to be a dynamic democracy and economy, and a remarkably safe place to travel and live.

Professor Emerita of Political Science Elizabeth Larus

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs and Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council Indo-Pacific Strategic Initiative Elizabeth Freund Larus commented on Times Now India’s “News Hour” talk show on China’s new deep sea cable cutter technology. Professor Larus indicated that China’s new deep sea cable cutter is likely responsible for severing one of Taiwan’s undersea cables. China is proud of the technological advances that have made that country a peer maritime competitor with the United States but employs plausible deniability to shield itself from culpability. She also indicated that a series of cable cuttings near Taiwan is part of China’s gray zone tactics that are aggressive but short of war. See more.

Other recent media mentions for Larus include:

Trump’s midnight tariffs spark global reaction and warning (WION News)
Larus commented that President Trump’s early April 2025 tariffs are not only intended to bring manufacturing back to the United States but are also intended to prevent China from merely moving operations to neighboring countries, such as Vietnam, to circumvent the tariffs. https://www.nwitimes.com/partners/video-elephant/news/video_5dd2714b-c308-5e26-9a78-7252986829ce.html

Israel Strikes Lebanon After Rocket Attack; Lebanon Warns Against New War (NewsX World)
Larus commented that President Trump indicated that the his administration’s deportation of members and alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua criminal gang without being charged with a crime raises a host of legal questions. See more.

US-China tariff war: China says it will ‘ignore’ further hikes, moves WTO on violations (WION News)
Larus commented on the U.S.-China tariff war, indicating that U.S.-China trade is heading for rough seas not just for trade in goods but also in services, commenting that China and the United States have worked each other into respective corners. President Trump had campaigned in 2016 and 2024 against China in a policy of “ChinaPrima.” Although he imposed a moratorium on tariff hikes with other countries, he has held fast with China. Trump is trying to bring Beijing to the table after years of promise fatigue in which China fails to follow through on market-oriented economic reform. At the same time, China’s leader Xi Jinping, who projects China as a peer superpower, cannot appear as backing down. Larus also indicated that despite outreach from Spain and Germany to China, most European countries will not dramatically strengthen economic relations with China because they are suffering from the same promise fatigue. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/us-china-tariff-war-china-says-it-will-ignore-further-hikes-moves-wto-on-violations/vi-AA1CKE5p

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, commented on WION News on President Trump’s tariffs. Professor Larus indicated that it will be difficult for the US to have good relations with allies when Trump is imposing uncertainty on foreign businesses. She also indicated that Trump’s supporters will continue to back him in the short run despite tariff hikes, but he might lose a lot of that support if prices do not begin to come down. https://youtu.be/rn9-Y1dm2Wk?si=iDmRIND6fpk9s1rM

Other media mentions for Larus include:

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

Elizabeth Larus, professor emerita of political science and international affairs, commented to WION, an Indian news network, that many women are not single-issue voters. Abortion may not be the most important issue for some women, many of whom are more concerned by high prices, crime, illegal immigration and the prospect of war. You can see the commentary here via X.

Other recent media mentions for Larus include:

U.S. Presidential Race (News X World)
Elizabeth Larus, joins us on the broadcast to analyze what the future holds for America. https://x.com/NewsX/status/1851990085333585934?t=NE8Yukj8MSpcDZb5bvlLzQ&s=19

US Presidential Elections 2024: Impact on Taiwan (The Diplomat)
This conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Freund Larus – nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub and Indo-Pacific Security Initiative and professor emerita of political science and former departmental chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Mary Washington – is the 439th in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.” https://thediplomat.com/2024/11/us-presidential-elections-2024-impact-on-taiwan/

2024 US Presidential Election (x.com/CNN News 18)
Elizabeth indicated to CNN that Republicans this year are taking a page from the Democratic Party playbook to up their ground game.
https://x.com/CNNnews18/status/1853937795926241497?t=ZRiK_luM_yjjQ2cl8_IYyg&s=09

2024 US Elections (Poland’s TVP News)
Elizabeth indicated that Congressional and Senate races would be as competitive as the Presidential race as Democrats try to gain control of the House and Republicans try to gain control of the Senate, and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoXCYbo_X-8

Trump 2.0: What Will It Mean for India (NDTV)
Elizabeth commented that Trump used his outsider status to his advantage at a time when Americans are jaded by US political institutions and the US media.
https://youtu.be/N6tHuOgJPWY?si=fOkvr7mBgOS1q9v0

US Election Results (NewsX)
Elizabeth Larus indicated that the election would come down to specific counties in the swing states.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6KZTnD2V6g

Why Kamala Harris Lost the Election (WION News)
Harris lost despite raising >$1 bn for her war chest, a record amount. It wasn’t the messaging but the message that sunk her. Trump’s victory wasn’t sexist: fewer women supported Harris than supported Biden. Abortion wasn’t the biggest issue: Women aren’t single-issue voters.
https://x.com/WIONews/status/1854924388606554288?t=_DNNHNP-BTGRCGm9Viyk9g&s=19

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global China Hub and Indo-Pacific Strategic Initiative Elizabeth Larus is quoted as an expert in Chinese and Taiwan relations by Fox News Digital. The article, titled “Encircling Taiwan was a smokescreen for China’s real goal of convincing US not to intervene,” quoted Larus as saying “China planned the exercises in advance and would have carried them out regardless of what Lai said. The military exercises are intended to wear down Taiwan’s military hardware and personnel. The purposes of the exercises are to threaten Taiwan’s security to the point that the Taiwan people lose confidence in their government and to change the status quo of a Taiwan separate from China.” Read the article.

In addition, recent media mentions for Larus include: