“Chinese Aerospace Power” & “China, The United States and 21st-Century Sea Power” Reviewed in Warship 2012’s “Naval Books of the Year”
Conrad Waters, Review of Four Naval Institute Press Books, “Naval Books of the Year,” Warship 2012: 190-91.
One notable side effect of the steady rise in the power and importance of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been the significant growth in the number of books devoted to its analysis. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than in the United States, where a desire to gain a better understanding of this new maritime phenomenon is equaled only by uncertainty as to whether to respond by treating the PLAN as a likely future adversary or as a potential ally. …
China, The United States and 21st- Century Sea Power and Chinese Aerospace Power are, respectively, the fourth and fifth volumes in an impressive series of ‘Studies in Chinese Maritime Development’ published jointly with the US Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute. Bringing together a collection of essays produced by distinguished contributors in their chosen fields, they provide a wide range of interesting perspectives grouped by theme that can be read either selectively or sequentially. Both books examine their subjects from a broadly strategic perspective but Chinese Aerospace Power, particularly, also provides some informative technical insights. For example, the various discussions contained within its section on Chinese anti-ship missile (ASBM) capabilities provide much information on a technology that could have a significant impact on the balance of power in the Pacific. China, The United States and 21st-
Century Sea Power looks at areas of possible cooperation, and is notable in containing contributions from several Chinese academics. …
Click on the links below for further information on the CMSI volumes reviewed:
Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, eds., Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011).
Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and Nan Li, eds., China, the United States, and 21st Century Sea Power: Defining a Maritime Security Partnership (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2010).
