Andrew S. Erickson

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 26 April 2013), RL33153, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf.
Summary
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The question is of particular importance to […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, A Statement before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Panel III: “China’s Political and Security Challenges in the Middle East,” “China and the Middle East” hearing, Washington, DC, 6 June 2013.
Click here to watch webcast of hearing.
My testimony reflects my personal views and not the policies or estimates of the U.S. Navy or […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “How China Got There First: Beijing’s Unique Path to ASBM Development and Deployment,” Jamestown Foundation China Brief 13.12 (7 June 2013).
China’s deployment of the world’s first operational anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) has just been confirmed with unprecedented clarity by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The ASBM’s development path was unusual in many […]

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Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “How Obama and Xi Can Avoid California Dreaming,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 7 June 2013.
President Barack Obama’s upcoming summit with President Xi Jinping at the Sunnylands estate in Palm Springs, Calif., comes at a crossroads for U.S.-China relations. There are of course the usual […]

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U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
 
Thursday, June 6, 2013
 
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 608
Washington, DC 20002

Hearing Co-Chairs: Commissioners Jeffrey L. Fiedler and James Talent
 
9:00a–9:05a        Co-Chairs’ remarks: Commissioners Jeffrey L. Fiedler and James Talent (Comm. Fiedler Opening Remarks) (Comm. Talent Opening Remarks)
 
9:05a–10:20a     Panel I:  China’s Perspectives and Policy in the Middle East

Dr. Dawn Murphy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, […]

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– HEARING NOTICE –
China and the Middle East
Hearing Co-Chairs: Commissioners Jeffrey L. Fiedler and James Talent
WHAT: Public Hearing on “China and the Middle East.” The hearing will examine China’s policies and perspectives related to the Middle East, including on energy security, trade and investment, regional conflicts, and instability in countries like Syria and Iran. […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, Chinese Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile Development: Drivers, Trajectories, and Strategic Implications (Washington, DC: Jamestown Foundation/Brookings Institution Press, 2013).

Now available via Amazon, including as a Kindle eBook!
Click here to purchase this book via Brookings Institution Press or from the Jamestown Store.
China’s anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), the DF-21D, has reached the equivalent of Initial Operational Capability. While perfecting the […]

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Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “China Has Drones. Now What? When Beijing Will—and Won’t—Use Its UAVs,” Foreign Affairs, 23 May 2013.
The time to fret about when China will acquire drones is over: it has them. The question now is when and how it will use them. But as with its other, less exotic military capabilities, […]

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Having read all 416 pages, I can attest that this integrated strategic net assessment offers useful data and thoughtful consideration of important alternative futures!
Michael D. Swaine, Mike M. Mochizuki, Michael L. Brown, Paul S. Giarra, Douglas H. Paal, Rachel Esplin Odell, Raymond Lu, Oliver Palmer, Xu Ren, China’s Military and the U.S.-Japan Alliance in 2030: A […]

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Nathaniel Austin, “Lifting the Shroud on China’s Defense Spending: Trends, Drivers, and Implications—An Interview with Andrew S. Erickson and Adam P. Liff,” Policy Q&A, National Bureau of Asian Research, 16 May 2013.
In March, the Chinese government announced another multibillion-dollar increase of its defense budget. In order to gain a more nuanced understanding of the latest budget’s […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “India’s Steady Progress in Rockets and Satellites,” in Anthony M. Springer, ed., Proceedings of the Forty-First History Symposium of the International Academy of Astronautics, American Astronautical Society (AAS) History Series, Vol. 38 (San Diego, CA: Univelt, 2012), 359-94.          CHAPTER TEXT          ENDNOTES & VOLUME INFORMATION
India’s development […]

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Worth a read if you haven’t had a chance already…
John Garnaut, “Xi’s War Drums,” Foreign Policy (May/June 2013).
China’s new leader is using the military to consolidate his power. But has he unleashed forces beyond his control?
Every morning at 6 a.m., more than two dozen of the world’s leading submarine watchers, aviation experts, government specialists, imagery […]

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Michael J. Lostumbo, Michael J. McNerney, Eric Peltz, Derek Eaton, David R. Frelinger, Victoria A. Greenfield, John Halliday, Patrick Mills, Bruce R. Nardulli, Stacie L. Pettyjohn, Jerry M. Sollinger, Stephen Worman, Overseas Basing of U.S. Military Forces An Assessment of Relative Costs and Strategic Benefits (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2013), RR-201. 
Section 347 of the […]

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Looking for substantive geostrategic analysis by a top Chinese scholar? Read on!
Wu Zhengyu, “Toward ‘Land’ or Toward ‘Sea’? The High-Speed Railway and China’s Grand Strategy,” Naval War College Review 66.3 (Summer 2013): 53-65.
China’s maritime development having come up against pressures and challenges in recent years, the concept of “strategic hedging”—that is, pursuit of and investment […]

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Incisive analysis on a timely and important topic!
Jessica Chen Weiss, “Authoritarian Signaling, Mass Audiences, and Nationalist Protest in China,” International Organization, 67.1 (January 2013): 1-35.
How can authoritarian states credibly signal their intentions in international crises? Nationalist, antiforeign protests are one mechanism by which authoritarian leaders can visibly demonstrate their domestic vulnerability. Because protests in authoritarian […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “Pentagon Report Reveals Chinese Military Developments,” The Diplomat, 8 May 2013.
After a year-long hiatus, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)’s annual report on Chinese military developments is back and better than ever. Its 43-page 2012 predecessor was widely criticized for arriving far later than Congress requested and containing little substance or new data. But […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “Unpacking the Riches of the Pentagon’s China Report,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 7 May 2013.
The U.S. Department of Defense annual report on Chinese military developments, released on Monday, has made a splash by putting forth the most direct official accusations so far of Chinese cyberintrusions into the U.S. government computers. […]

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Click here to read the full text report.
Here is a summary via American Forces Press Service of statements by David F. Helvey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, at the time of the report’s release (HT: Burgess Laird).
In extremely welcome change from last year, the 2013 report is detailed and substantive.
Text of particular interest:
ASBM
pp. 5-6:

“China is […]

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Here’s my initial read:
As its name implies, this latest PRC Defense White Paper provides an overall survey not only of further development of core PLA capabilities, but also of an array of secondary roles and missions that is broadening in nature and geographic scope.
In terms of specific data points, it is interesting that personnel figures […]

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