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, 28 July 2015), RL33153.
If you’re having trouble downloading the report directly, click here for a cached copy.
Summary
China is building a modern and regionally powerful navy with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s near-seas region. Observers of […]

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Eric Fish, “Time to ‘Freak Out’ About Chinese Stocks? Depends on Who You Ask,” Asia Blog, Asia Society, 8 July 2015.
The past year has been a roller coaster ride for Chinese stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index shot from 2,000 points in July 2014 to nearly 5,200 last month, but now it continues to plunge, closing just above […]

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Daniel W. Drezner, “The Politics of China’s Stock Market Collapse,” PostEverything, Washington Post, 7 July 2015.
(Drezner is the model of a scholar who achieves relevance as a public intellectual. Click here to access his website.)
Nothing to see here, just the meltdown of Chinese equity markets.
So while every international affairs pundit and their mother are focused […]

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Further useful guidance from Peter Mattis how best to study the PLA. This practical, methodologically-focused approach is long overdue, and will aid the field immensely!
Peter Mattis, “No Easy Task: The Right Way to Study China’s Military,” The National Interest, 29 June 2015.
…Finding good guidance on sourcing is difficult, and the ubiquitous citations to retired PLA […]

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Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 1 June 2015), RL33153.
Summary
China is building a modern and regionally powerful Navy with a modest but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s near-seas region. The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its […]

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Peter Mattis, “So You Want to Be a PLA Expert?” War on the Rocks, 2 June 2015.
One of the challenges of developing a good sense of how the PLA functions is that there are so few places to go for regularly appearing analysis that draws on Chinese sources. Instead of being able to go to […]

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I stand by my blurb most enthusiastically: “Uncertainty and limited data have left too much of PLA studies an artisanal hodgepodge. Peter Mattis helps bring the field into the information age with this invaluable resource. Required reading for all serious analysts of China security and students of qualitative methodology.”
Peter Mattis, Analyzing the Chinese Military: A Review […]

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Peter A. Dutton and Ryan D. Martinson, eds., Beyond the Wall: Chinese Far Seas Operations, Naval War College China Maritime Study 13 (May 2015).

Much has been written about Chinese sea power in the “near seas” of East Asia—those waters located within the chain of islands extending from the Kurils in the north to Sumatra in the south. This […]

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Bryan McGrath, “How Will China View the New Maritime Strategy,” Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 8 April 2015.
The military services responsible for American seapower (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard) recently released their new maritime strategy, entitled “Forward, Engaged, Ready: A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower.” The reviews thus far have been positive, […]

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Christopher H. Sharman, China Moves Out: Stepping Stones toward a New Maritime Strategy, China Strategic Perspectives 9 (Washington, DC: National Defense University, April 2015).
Commander Christopher Sharman, a Navy officer and National War College student, has just published a new NDU China Strategic Perspectives monograph, “China Moves Out: Stepping Stones toward a New Maritime Strategy.” Based on detailed analysis of 11 […]

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Shannon Tiezzi, “Chinese Nationals Evacuate Yemen on PLA Navy Frigate,” The Diplomat, 30 March 2015.
Amid increasing violence, China pulls over 500 citizens out of Yemen.
As the violence in Yemen worsens, with Saudi Arabia leading air strikes against Houthi forces, China has joined a number of countries in evacuating personnel from the country. China sent a […]

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Worthwhile analysis on a timely topic! The Asia-Pacific is a technology-intensive theater, making it all the more vital to understand key technological dynamics therein.
Amy Chang, Ben FitzGerald, and Van Jackson, Shades of Gray: Technology, Strategic Competition, and Stability in Maritime Asia (Washington, DC: Center for a New American Security, 30 March 2015).
In this seventh paper […]

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Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., “Minefields at Sea: From The Tsars to Putin,” Breaking Defense, 23 March 2015.
This is the first of three stories on the crucial but neglected question of sea mines and how well — or not — the United States manages this very real global threat. Since World War II, mines have sunk or […]

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As I’ve often said, China is often more transparent in Chinese…
Shannon Tiezzi, “China (Finally) Admits to Hacking,” The Diplomat, 18 March 2015.
An updated military document for the first time admits that the Chinese government sponsors offensive cyber units.
China’s military has finally pulled back the curtain on its cyber strategy, admitting for the first time that […]

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Ian E. Rinehart and Bart Elias, China’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), R43894 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 30 January 2015).
Summary
In November 2013, the People’s Republic of China (PRC, or China) announced that it would establish an “East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ),” covering a large swath of airspace over the East […]

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Gwynn Guilford, “Sand Fight: China’s Island-Building Spree is About More Than Just Military Might,” Quartz, 21 February 2015.
China’s playing Monopoly in the South China Sea—only, instead of building hotels on Pacific Avenue, it’s constructing helipads and, in some cases, whole new islands.
In less than a year, shallow reefs in the Spratly Islands have sprouted white-sand outcrops, […]

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Jeff Moore, “Essay: The New Strategic Realities of U.S. Carrier Operations,” U.S. Naval Institute News, 17 February 2015.
Just four days ahead of the 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy announced its intention to award Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (HII). approximately $4 billion to construct the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) super carrier, […]

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Michael S. Chase, Jeffrey G. Engstrom, Tai Ming Cheung, Kristen Gunness, Scott Warren Harold, Susan Puska, and Samuel K. Berkowitz, China’s Incomplete Military Transformation: Assessing the Weaknesses of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2015).
 The minute this report came out, I knew that I had to read it from cover to cover. I did so, and was not […]

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Jonathan Ray, Red China’s “Capitalist Bomb”: Inside the Chinese Neutron Bomb Program, China Strategic Perspective 8 (Washington, DC: National Defense University, January 2015).
Ray examines why China developed and tested an enhanced radiation weapon (ERW) but did not deploy it. He uses primary source documents to reconstruct the ERW program’s history, assesses drivers behind decisions throughout […]

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