Jennifer Lind Testifies Before U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Associate Professor of Government Jennifer Lind testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 30 as part of a hearing on Chinese influence operations.

The hearing, titled "The Malign Influence of the People's Republic of China at Home and Abroad: Recommendations for Policy Makers," featured Lind alongside Peter Mattis, president of the Jamestown Foundation; Jeffrey Stoff, founder of the Center for Research Security and Integrity; and Melanie Hart, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub.

While Lind has previously testified on Capitol Hill, this was her first time before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"It's amazing to be able to speak with policymakers in this way," she says. "Academia often feels pretty distant from the policymaking process, even though I attend dialogues, talk with officials, and write for public-facing outlets. But you never really know what kind of impact your work is having. So it's an incredible opportunity to directly interact with U.S. leaders, particularly at this formative moment in U.S. politics and foreign policy."

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Josh Tupler '16 and Jennifer Lind

An expert on China's rise to power, Lind brings an international relations lens to discussion of the country's influence operations. Her forthcoming book and recent article in International Security argues that China has risen over the past two decades to become a superpower—bringing today's international system back to "bipolarity."

Analysis of China's technological prowess is also at the heart of Lind's Rise of China course, which she has taught at Dartmouth for more than a decade.

Lind said she was delighted to see two Dartmouth students at the hearing, including her research assistant, presidential scholar Anika Mukker '26. Lind also had a chance to reconnect with her former student Josh Tupler '16, a member of the minority committee staff.

In her testimony, Lind detailed the threat of Chinese influence operations and offered a framework for considering U.S. responses in ways consistent with American values.

"The Chinese Community Party conducts extensive influence operations against the United States and the broader international order that are malign in terms of goals and methods," Lind said. "Such operations seek to bolster authoritarianism, discredit democratic governance, and reshape global norms in China's interests."

In short, Lind told the committee, "This is not geopolitics as usual." She described China's influence operations as "unusually expansive, unusually well-funded, and frequently conducted using covert and illegal methods that undermine not only U.S. interests but the rights of American citizens and the rule of law in our country."

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Jennifer Lind, N.H. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and Anika Mukker '26 (far right)

While many experts emphasize defensive U.S. responses to blunt Chinese operations, Lind's testimony introduced a framework that also seeks "to convince Beijing to rein in its activities."

Lind's invitation to take part in the hearing was sparked by New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen's visit to Dartmouth on Nov. 15 for a forum at the Tuck School of Business on the 2024 presidential election and its broader political and policy implications. During the visit, Lind had the opportunity to speak with Shaheen and members of her staff about U.S.-China relations and other U.S. foreign policy challenges in East Asia.