Archive | Journal Articles

22 April 2014

Parallel Progress, Positive Potential: Sino-American Cooperation to Further Sea Lane Security in the Gulf of Aden

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Parallel Progress, Positive Potential: Sino-American Cooperation to Further Sea Lane Security in the Gulf of Aden,” China International Strategy Review 2013 (2013): 479–501.
Click here to read the online version.

Anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden represent a successful example of international cooperation to secure sea lines of communication (SLOC), which involves […]

Continue Reading

21 April 2014

China Goes Ballistic

Andrew S. Erickson and Michael S. Chase, “China Goes Ballistic,” The National Interest 131 (May-June 2014): 58-64.
CHINA IS INCREASINGLY A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH, not only economically but also militarily. Its aggressive stance toward some of its neighbors, along with Asia’s growing economic importance and the need to assure U.S. allies that Washington will increase […]

Continue Reading

09 February 2014

Non-Traditional Maritime Security and U.S.-China Confidence Building Measures: An Opportunity amidst Challenges

安德鲁·埃里克森 [Andrew S. Erickson] and 奥斯丁·斯特兰奇 [Austin M. Strange], “非传统海上安全和美中信心建立措施: 挑战中的机遇” [Non-Traditional Maritime Security and U.S.-China Confidence Building Measures: An Opportunity amidst Challenges], 美国问题研究 [Fudan American Review], 1 (2014): 1–32.          FULL TEXT, NO COVER INFO          PART 1, WITH COVER INFO          PART 2 OF […]

Continue Reading

21 January 2014

Ripples of Change in Chinese Foreign Policy? Evidence from Recent Approaches to Nontraditional Waterborne Security

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Ripples of Change in Chinese Foreign Policy? Evidence from Recent Approaches to Nontraditional Waterborne Security,” Asia Policy 17 (January 2014): 93–126.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This article examines China’s approaches to nontraditional security in the Gulf of Aden and on the Mekong River and explores the extent to which its behavior reflects […]

Continue Reading

01 January 2014

China’s Near-Seas Challenges

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Near-Seas Challenges,” The National Interest 129 (January-February 2014): 60-66.
THE U.S. National Intelligence Council forecasts that China will become the world’s largest economy (measured by purchasing-power parity) in 2022. Jane’s predicts that by 2015 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) funding will double to $238 billion, surpassing that of NATO’s eight largest militaries after the United States […]

Continue Reading

16 December 2013

Deterrence by Denial: How to Prevent China From Using Force

Andrew S. Erickson, “Deterrence by Denial: How to Prevent China From Using Force,” The National Interest, 16 December 2013.
In contrast to ongoing limitations, shared interests, and even opportunities for increasingly-robust cooperation far away, China’s navy and other services are achieving formidable anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities closer to shore. Beijing is prioritizing an “anti-Navy” to deter U.S. intervention in the […]

Continue Reading

15 December 2013

Just Out in December 2013 China Quarterly: “Demystifying China’s Defence Spending: Less Mysterious in the Aggregate”

Adam P. Liff and Andrew S. Erickson, “Demystifying China’s Defence Spending: Less Mysterious in the Aggregate,” The China Quarterly 216 (December 2013): 805-30. (lead article)
Click here to read the full text version.
Abstract
China’s limited transparency concerning its defence spending harms strategic trust, but foreign analysts often lose sight of important realities. Specific details remain unclear, but China’s defence spending overall is no mystery – it supports PLA modernization and personnel development as well […]

Continue Reading

09 December 2013

Piracy’s Next Frontier: A Role for China in Gulf of Guinea Security?

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Piracy’s Next Frontier: A Role for China in Gulf of Guinea Security?” The National Interest, 10 December 2013.
Nestled in the crook of Africa’s long western coast, the Gulf of Guinea is emerging as the next frontier in the international effort against piracy. It is particularly important to understand […]

Continue Reading

24 October 2013

Learning by Doing: PLAN Operational Innovations in the Gulf of Aden

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin Strange, “Learning by Doing: PLAN Operational Innovations in the Gulf of Aden,” Jamestown China Brief 13.21 (24 October 2013).
Chinese planners were seriously concerned about logistical and operational challenges associated with anti-piracy missions near Somali waters long before the first People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships were deployed in 2008. In particular, […]

Continue Reading

21 October 2013

Diego Garcia: Anchoring America’s Future Presence in the Indo-Pacific

Andrew S. Erickson, Walter Ladwig, and Justin Mikolay, “Diego Garcia: Anchoring America’s Future Presence in the Indo-Pacific,” Harvard Asia Quarterly 15.2 (Summer 2013): 20–28.
Issue Theme: “Asia’s Security Future—National Strategies and Regional Institutions”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A HARD COPY SCAN.

From the Editor: “Andrew Erickson (US Naval War College), Walter Ladwig (University of Oxford), and Justin Mikolay look at the […]

Continue Reading

10 October 2013

The Relevant Organs: Institutional Factors behind China’s Gulf of Aden Deployment

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “The Relevant Organs: Institutional Factors behind China’s Gulf of Aden Deployment,” Jamestown Foundation China Brief 13.20 (10 October 2013).
Numerous institutional factors have driven and incentivized China’s participation in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Central to executing China’s first instance of protracted Far Seas naval operations has been […]

Continue Reading

06 August 2013

China Carrier Demo Module Highlights Surging Navy

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabe Collins, “China Carrier Demo Module Highlights Surging Navy,” The National Interest, 6 August 2013.
Shanghai’s Changxing Island Shipyard, already home to both conventional-submarine and civil production, now appears to be preparing to construct China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier. Internet and satellite photos have emerged of a hull module whose limited dimensions suggest that it represents a […]

Continue Reading

07 June 2013

How China Got There First: Beijing’s Unique Path to ASBM Development and Deployment

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 […]

Continue Reading

24 May 2013

China Has Drones. Now What? When Beijing Will—and Won’t—Use Its UAVs

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, […]

Continue Reading

01 April 2013

Learning the Ropes in Blue Water: The Chinese Navy’s Gulf of Aden Deployments Have Borne Worthwhile Lessons in Far-Seas Operations—Lessons that Go Beyond the Antipiracy Mission

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Learning the Ropes in Blue Water: The Chinese Navy’s Gulf of Aden Deployments Have Borne Worthwhile Lessons in Far-Seas Operations—Lessons that Go Beyond the Antipiracy Mission,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 139.4 (April 2013): 34–38.
December 2012 marked the fourth anniversary of China’s ongoing antipiracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. Over four-plus […]

Continue Reading

25 March 2013

“Demystifying China’s Defence Spending: Less Mysterious in the Aggregate”–FirstView Version of Article Now Available on The China Quarterly Website

Adam P. Liff and Andrew S. Erickson, “Demystifying China’s Defence Spending: Less Mysterious in the Aggregate,” The China Quarterly, available on CJO 2013, doi:10.1017/S0305741013000295; published online by Cambridge University Press 25 March 2013. 
A FirstView version of the forthcoming article online may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741013000295.
This FirstView version of the article, also know as a final Version of Record (VoR), hereby replaces the Accepted Manuscript (AM) [a preliminary version of the article], the contents of which differ slightly and […]

Continue Reading

07 March 2013

A Player, but No Superpower

Andrew S. Erickson and Adam P. Liff, “A Player, but No Superpower,” Foreign Policy, 7 March 2013.
On March 5, at the opening of the National People’s Congress, Beijing announced its official 2013 defense budget: roughly $114.3 billion, a 10.7 percent increase over the previous year and, in nominal terms, nearly four times the official budget a decade […]

Continue Reading

04 March 2013

China’s 2013 Military Budget to Rise 10.7% to US $114.3 Billion–What it Means, and Why it Matters

What happened?
Today, on Tuesday 5 March 2013 (Beijing time), China revealed its latest official defense budget: a projected 10.7% increase to 720.2 billion yuan (US $114.3 billion) for 2013.
The English version of the relevant report released at the National People’s Congress, Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China, “Report on the Implementation of […]

Continue Reading

04 March 2013

China Channels Billy Mitchell: Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile Alters Region’s Military Geography

Andrew S. Erickson, “China Channels Billy Mitchell: Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile Alters Region’s Military Geography,” Jamestown Foundation China Brief 13.5 (4 March 2013).
Reprinted as “China Homes in on Pacific Air Supremacy,” Asia Times, 6 March 2013.
China’s DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is no longer merely an aspiration. Beijing has successfully developed, partially tested and deployed in […]

Continue Reading