Andrew S. Erickson

Andrew S. Erickson, Review of Brian C.H. Fong, U.S.-China Rivalry: Great Power Competition in the Indo-Pacific (Edinburgh, Scotland, UK: Edinburgh University Press, November 2024); in Naval War College Review 78.2 (Summer/Fall 2025): 145–46.

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US-China Rivalry: Great Power Competition in the Indo-Pacific, by Brian C. H. Fong. Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2024. […]

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Honored to publish lead book review in new double issue of Naval War College Review (combined Summer and Autumn 2024 edition) marking the 140th anniversary of the Naval War College’s founding!
Here are concise assessments of Xiaobing Li’s tour de force, “China’s New Navy,” as well as Toshi Yoshihara’s magnum opus, “Mao’s Army Goes to Sea.” […]

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Ryan D. Martinson, “War without Surprises—Education for Command in the People’s Liberation Army Navy,” Naval War College Review 77.3 (Summer/Autumn 2024): 14–27.

In the lead article for a special double issue of Naval War College Review, published in commemoration of the Naval War College’s 140th anniversary, CMSI Professor Ryan Martinson analyzes the professional development of China’s […]

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Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “Putin’s Ukraine Invasion: Turbocharging Sino-Russian Collaboration in Energy, Maritime Security, and Beyond?” Naval War College Review 75.4 (Autumn 2022): 91–126.
Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine will continue to send shock waves across the shores of maritime Asia for years, with unfolding impacts on ecosystems inhabited by oil barrels, gas pipelines, […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, Joshua Hickey, and Henry Holst, “Surging Second Sea Force: China’s Maritime Law-Enforcement Forces, Capabilities, and Future in the Gray Zone and Beyond,” Naval War College Review 72.2 (Spring 2019): 11-25.
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As China’s sea services continue to expand, the consolidating China Coast Guard (CCG) has taken the lead as […]

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The following publications regarding the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s rapid development of the world’s largest maritime law enforcement (“Coast Guard”) fleet and key dynamics concerning its force structure are based on far more extensive open source research than can be reflected in the space available for citations within them:

Joshua Hickey, Andrew S. Erickson, and […]

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Gabriel B. Collins, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, “Capability Analysis: Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, Pt. 2,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 6 November 2018.
This article originally featured in The Naval War College Review in 2008 and is republished with permission. Read it in its original form here. Read Part One […]

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Gabriel B. Collins, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, “Capability Analysis: Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, Pt. 1,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 29 October 2018.
This article originally featured in The Naval War College Review in 2008 and is republished with permission. Read it in its original form here. It will […]

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The commercial-strategic linkages and state support for PRC port and shipping ventures resemble a twenty-first-century version of the Dutch East India Company. These notionally commercial enterprises operate globally with the full financial and military backing of their home state, and the vessels that connect the ports are “ships of state,” functioning as instruments of Chinese […]

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Andrew S. Erickson; review of Boris Chertok, Rockets and People: Hot Days of the Cold War, Vol. 3 (Washington, DC: NASA, 2009); Naval War College Review 70.2 (Spring 2017): 151-53.
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Volume 3 in four-volume series written by Boris Chertok and […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “America’s Security Role in the South China Sea,” Naval War College Review 69.1 (Winter 2016): 7-20.
In this issue, Andrew S. Erickson argues for safeguarding the long-term future of the global maritime commons, including the freedom of the vital international sea-lanes of the South China Sea and the airspace above.
From the Editors:
As the […]

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Andrew S. Erickson; review of Alan M. Wachman, Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for China’s Territorial Integrity (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007); Naval War College Review 68.3 (Summer 2015): 167-69.
Tufts Fletcher School Professor Alan Wachman was a giant in the China, East Asian studies, and international relations field who remains sorely missed following his untimely death […]

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Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “China’s Blue Soft Power: Antipiracy, Engagement, and Image Enhancement,” Naval War College Review 68.1 (Winter 2015): 71–91.
Translated in traditional Chinese as:
艾瑞克森 [Andrew S. Erickson] 博士、史崔奇 [Austin M. Strange] 博士生; 譯者: 翟文中 (海軍備役上校) [Translation by Capt. CHAI Wen-Chung, ROC-N (Ret.)], “中國大陸的遠洋軟實力 打擊海盜、國際交往與形象提升(上)” [Mainland China’s Use of Blue Water Soft Power […]

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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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Andrew S. Erickson, Abraham M. Denmark, and Gabriel Collins, “Beijing’s ‘Starter Carrier’ and Future Steps: Alternatives and Implications,” Naval War College Review, 65.1 (Winter 2012): 14–54.

Chinese version: Andrew S. Erickson, Abraham Denmark and Gabriel Collins, “China’s Trials at Sea: The ‘Starter Carrier’ and the Future of Chinese Naval Power” (中国航母海试: “起步航母” 与中国海上力量的未来), China International Strategy Review […]

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Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “China’s Oil Security Pipe Dream: The Reality, and Strategic Consequences, of Seaborne Imports,” Naval War College Review 63.2 (Spring 2010): 88–111.
This article was required reading for the Naval War College National Security Decision Making Department’s Strategy and Theater Security course.
It is widely believed in China that overland pipelines would […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, review of Charles Horner, Rising China and Its Postmodern Fate: Memories of Empire in a New Global Context (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2009), Naval War College Review, 63.2 (Spring 2010): 145-47.
This book connects China’s past, present, and future and places them in a larger, evolving context. Horner’s work is nothing […]

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Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, “China’s Future Nuclear Submarine Force: Insights from Chinese Writings,” Naval War College Review 60.1 (Winter 2007): 54-79.
Cited in the following Wikipedia entries:
“Nuclear submarine”
“Submarines of the People’s Liberation Army Navy”
“Type 091 submarine”
“Type 092 submarine”
“Type 093 submarine”
“Type 095 submarine”
“Peng Pai”

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Andrew S. Erickson and David D. Yang, “Using the Land to Control the Sea? Chinese Analysts Consider the Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile,” Naval War College Review 62.4 (Autumn 2009): 53–86.

This article won the Naval War College Foundation Hugh G. Nott Prize (second place) in 2009.

Established in the early 1980s, this award is presented by the President of […]

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