Alastair Iain Johnston is the Laine Professor of China and the World at Harvard University. Robert S. Ross is Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Research Associate at Harvard's Fairbank Center for East Asian Research.

Robert S. Ross is Professor of Political Science at Boston College, Associate, John King Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University, and Senior Advisor, Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His current research focuses on Chinese security policy, with a focus on Chinese use of force and deterrence in East Asia and U.S.-China relations. Among his recent publications is Normalization of U.S.-China Relations: An International History, Re-Examining the Cold War: U.S.-China Diplomacy, 1954-1973, and New Directions in the Study of Chinese Foreign Policy.