A new way to understand China...

Andrew S. Erickson China's rapid development is reshaping the world in all dimensions. Chinese language open sources offer insights into these critical trends. While such materials are increasing constantly in number, diversity, and sophistication, only a fraction is available in English. The analyses available here, many based on sources not previously considered outside China, are designed to help bridge that gap--and thereby increase understanding of the most dynamic great power in the international system today.

27 October 2011 ~ View Comments

China in the Indian Ocean: Impacts, Prospects, Opportunities

Nathaniel Barber, Kieran Coe, Victoria Steffes, and Jennifer Winter, China in the Indian Ocean: Impacts, Prospects, Opportunities, Prepared for U.S. government’s Office of South Asia Policy (Madison, WI: Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011).
Mainland China has increased its activities in the Indian Ocean region by investing in local states, building [...]

27 October 2011 ~ View Comments

Can China Defend a ‘Core Interest’ in the South China Sea?

Toshi Yoshihara & James R. Holmes, “Can China Defend a ‘Core Interest’ in the South China Sea?” The Washington Quarterly 34.2 (2011): 45-59.
Déjà vu surrounds reports that Beijing has claimed a ‘‘core interest’’ in the South China Sea. High-ranking Chinese officials reportedly asserted such an interest during a private March 2010 meeting with two visiting [...]

27 October 2011 ~ View Comments

Crisis Instability and US-China Relations: The Present (If Not Clear) Danger

Avery Goldstein, “Crisis Instability and US-China Relations: The Present (If Not Clear) Danger,” paper presented at American Political Science Association 2011 Annual Meeting.
Two concerns have driven much of the debate about international security in the post Cold War era. The principal concern has been the potentially deadly mix of nuclear proliferation, rogue states, and international [...]

27 October 2011 ~ View Comments

China’s Petroleum Predicament: Challenges and Opportunities in Beijing’s Search for Energy Security

Andrew B. Kennedy, “China’s Petroleum Predicament: Challenges and Opportunities in Beijing’s Search for Energy Security,” in Jane Golley and Ligang Song, eds., Rising China: Global Challenges and Opportunities (Canberra and Beijing: Australian National University and Social Sciences Academic Press, 2011), 121-136.
If China’s rise is one of the most important stories of this new century, China’s [...]

22 October 2011 ~ View Comments

Chinese Navy Hospital Ship Visits Cuba, Caribbean

Jeff Franks, “Chinese Navy Hospital Ship Visits Cuba, Caribbean,” Reuters, 22 October 2011.
HAVANA (Reuters) – A Chinese navy hospital ship called the Peace Ark sailed on Friday into Havana Bay in Cuba, reflecting good relations between the communist allies and China’s expanding global presence.
The 580-foot (178 meters) ship was met by Cuban naval officials in [...]

19 October 2011 ~ View Comments

Profiled with Other “Current Geopolitical Scholars” in Geopolitics: A Guide to the Issues

Bert Chapman, Geopolitics: A Guide to the Issues (Contemporary Military, Strategic, and Security Issues) (New York: Praeger, 2011).
“Current Geopolitical Scholars”
“A number of scholars representing classical and critical geopolitical perspectives are influencing this discipline’s research and analysis while representing disciplinary fields such as geography, history, international economics, military science, and political science.”
Scholars profiled include Thomas P.M. [...]

19 October 2011 ~ View Comments

Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge

Adam Segal, Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011).
As the United States struggles to emerge from recession, India and China’s continued robust growth is the subject of much interest and concern. In his new book, Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge, Council [...]

19 October 2011 ~ View Comments

China’s Rise in Historical Perspective

Brantly Womack, ed., China’s Rise in Historical Perspective (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010).
“Stimulating and elegant. This unique book purposefully blends insightful historical analyses and strong present-day commentaries, placing core elements of the phenomenon of contemporary China into very meaningful contexts. This welcome and long-overdue approach will assist a broad readership that seeks to understand both where [...]

19 October 2011 ~ View Comments

The Politics of Nuclear Weapons in South Asia

Bhumitra Chakma, The Politics of Nuclear Weapons in South Asia (London: Ashgate, 2011).
An important and critical re-evaluation of South Asia’s post-tests nuclear politics, in contrast to other books, this volume emphasises the political dimension of South Asia’s nuclear weapons, explains how the bombs are used as politico-strategic assets rather than pure battlefield weapons and how [...]

19 October 2011 ~ View Comments

A Skeptic’s Case for Nuclear Disarmament

Michael E. O’Hanlon, A Skeptic’s Case for Nuclear Disarmament (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2010).
In 2007 two former U.S. secretaries of state, a defense secretary, and a former senator wrote persuasively in the Wall Street Journal that the time had come to move seriously toward a nuclear-free world. Almost two years later, the Global Zero [...]