Paine graduated
magna cum laude from
Harvard in 1979 with a BA in Latin American studies. She spent ten years acquiring her PhD in Russian and Chinese history at
Columbia University, which included five years of research and language study in China, Taiwan, Russia, Japan, and Australia.[1][2] She has received two Title VIII
fellowships from the
Hoover Institution,[3] two
Fulbright fellowships, and other fellowships from Japan, Taiwan, and Australia.[1] She began her career at the Naval War College as an Associate professor starting in 2000 and is now a professor of history and
grand strategy.[4]
She is married to Bruce A. Elleman, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College.[5] She has two brothers – John B. Paine III, and Thomas M. Paine.[6]
Selected publications
Author
Japan caught between maritime and continental imperialism, in Hal Brands, The Makers of Modern Strategy: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age (Princeton University Press, 2023, pages 415-439).
The Wars for Asia 1911–1949 (Cambridge University Press, 2012). 2012 Winner of the PROSE award for European & World History[7] and longlisted for the Lionel Gelber prize.[8]