Hi! Welcome...

Andrew S. Erickson China's rapid development is reshaping the world in all dimensions. Chinese language open sources offer insights into these critical trends. While such materials are increasing constantly in number, diversity, and sophistication, only a fraction is available in English. The analyses available here, many based on sources not previously considered outside China, are designed to help bridge that gap--and thereby increase understanding of the most dynamic great power in the international system today.

10 February 2010

New Review of China Goes to Sea

Anonymous review of Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and Carnes Lord, eds., China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2009), 10 February 2010.
… First, something on the background to the book. In effect, it’s been produced by some of the leading lights of the increasingly impressive China […]

03 February 2010

No Game Changer for China

Captain Sam J. Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Ret.), “No Game Changer for China,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 136, No. 2 (February 2010), pp. 24-29.
“The specter of the Chinese antiship ballistic missile could be just that if the United States takes a serious look at updating existing technology and past successful programs. …
Even Andrew Erickson and […]

01 February 2010

China’s Aircraft Carrier Ambitions: An Update

Nan Li and Christopher Weuve, “China’s Aircraft Carrier Ambitions: An Update,” Naval War College Review, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Winter 2010), pp. 12-31.
This article will address two major analytical questions. First, what are the necessary and sufficient conditions for China to acquire aircraft carriers? Second, what are the major implications if China does acquire aircraft […]

01 February 2010

Strategic Research Professor Wins Third Place in Nation’s Oldest Essay Contest

Tyler Will, Naval War College Public Affairs Office, “Strategic Research Professor Wins Third Place in Nation’s Oldest Essay Contest,” 1 February 2010.
Associate Strategic Research professor Andrew Erickson at the U.S. Naval War College (NWC) recently won third-place in the U.S. Naval Institute 2009 General Prize Essay Contest, with an article that explored Chinese development […]

30 January 2010

The Return of China: The Long March to Power—The New Historic Mission of the People’s Liberation Army

Major Kim Nødskov, Royal Danish Air Force (Ret.), The Return of China: The Long March to Power—The New Historic Mission of the People’s Liberation Army (Copenhagen: Royal Danish Defence College Publishing House, January 2010).
This book is an analysis of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the modernization it is going through. The […]

28 January 2010

Take China’s ASBM Potential Seriously

Andrew S. Erickson, “Take China’s ASBM Potential Seriously,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 136.2 (February 2010): 8.
If developed and deployed successfully, a Chinese antiship ballistic missile (ASBM) system of systems would be the world’s first capable of targeting a moving aircraft carrier strike group from long-range, land-based mobile launchers that could make defenses against it difficult and/or highly […]

25 January 2010

Contested Commons: The Future of American Power in a Multipolar World

Abraham M. Denmark and James Mulvenon, eds., Contested Commons: The Future of American Power in a Multipolar World (Washington, DC: Center for a New American Security, 25 January 2010).
Contested Commons is an edited volume featuring five chapters and a capstone piece on the future of American power in the sea, air, space and cyberspace. Authors […]

25 January 2010

Naval War College Co-Sponsors “Asia and Arms Control” Workshop

The Naval War College cosponsored a workshop on “Asia and Arms Control” with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC), held at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington D.C. on 19-21 January 2010.
From NWC the participants/attendees were: Provost Ambassador (ret.) Mary Ann Peters, Dr. Carnes Lord, Dr. Andrew Erickson, Prof. […]

15 January 2010

China Maritime Studies Institute Opens Unique Research Library

Tyler Will, Naval War College Public Affairs, “China Maritime Studies Institute Opens Unique Research Library,” 15 January 2010.
NEWPORT, R.I. – Faculty and staff members of the U.S. Naval War College commemorated an unprecedented collection of Chinese research journals with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the China Maritime Studies Institute new library facility, on Jan. 14.
The library, […]

15 January 2010

CMSI ‘Red Book’ #4: “Chinese Civil-Military Relations in the Post-Deng Era: Implications for Crisis Management and Naval Modernization”

Nan Li, Chinese Civil-Military Relations in the Post-Deng Era: Implications for Crisis Management and Naval Modernization, Naval War College China Maritime Study 4 (January 2010).
This study addresses two analytical questions: What has changed in Chinese civil-military relations during the post–Deng Xiaoping era? What are the implications of this change for China’s crisis management and its naval modernization? Addressing […]

12 January 2010

China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) Engages with Pacific Region Staffs

Tyler Will, NWC Public Affairs Office, “CMSI Engages with Pacific Region Staffs,” 12 January 2010.
NEWPORT, R.I. – Members of the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) located within the U.S. Naval War College engaged with military commanders and their staffs in the Pacific region during December 2009.
CMSI, an institute within the Strategic Research Department of Naval War […]

08 January 2010

Review of CMSI Vols. 1-3 in Asia Policy

Scott W. Bray (the U.S. Navy’s Senior Intelligence Officer for China), “Turning to the Sea… This Time to Stay,” Book Review Essay, Asia Policy, No. 9 (January 2010), pp. 167-72.
CMSI “Studies in Chinese Maritime Development” book series, vols. 1-3:
“these three books provide excellent perspective and concepts for understanding China’s maritime history and the strategic drivers […]

04 January 2010

Ballistic Trajectory—China Develops New Anti-Ship Missile

Andrew S. Erickson, “Ballistic Trajectory—China Develops New Anti-Ship Missile,” China Watch, Jane’s Intelligence Review 22 (4 January 2010): 2-4.
China’s anti-ship ballistic missile programme is showing signs of maturing. The missile could potentially deter or in wartime disable US carrier strike groups in the western Pacific. The development of the missile may motivate countermeasures from the US and other regional […]

03 January 2010

Is China’s Rocket Science all it’s Cracked up to be, Experts Ask

Greg Torode, Chief Asia correspondent, “Is China’s Rocket Science all it’s Cracked up to be, Experts Ask,” South China Morning Post, 3 January 2010.
Given its potential to wipe out an aircraft carrier – for America a core projection of its power – no weapon under development in China exercises strategic imaginations in Washington quite like […]

31 December 2009

An Assessment of China’s Defense Strategy in the post-Cold War Era–What Role for Bilateral Defense Cooperation with Russia?

Nikolaos Diakidis, An Assessment of China’s Defense Strategy in the post-Cold War Era–What Role for Bilateral Defense Cooperation with Russia? (Athens, Greece: Piraeus, 30 December 2009).
The paper studies the principal aspects of China’s defense strategy in the post-Cold War era, presenting an overview of the Sino-Russian defense cooperation. Focus is placed on the evolution of […]

31 December 2009

Extensive Review of China’s Future Nuclear Submarine Force Published in China Review International

L. H. Xavier Demián Soto Zuppa, El Colegio de México, A.C., Centro de Estudios de Asia y África (CEAA),  review of Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, William S. Murray, and Andrew R. Wilson, eds., China’s Future Nuclear Submarine Force (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2007), China Review International, 16.4 (2009): 494-501.
China’s Future Nuclear Submarine Force […]

30 December 2009

China Accelerates Space Research and Development

Craig Covault, “China Accelerates Space Research and Development,” Spaceflight Now, 29 December 2009.
… Chinese small and mini spacecraft carry great technological importance in overall Chinese military spacecraft development, according to Andrew S. Erickson of the U.S. Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island. Thousands of personnel are involved in overall Chinese small satellite development because […]

24 December 2009

System Architecture for Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile Defense (ASBMD)

Jean Hobgood, Kimberly Madison, Geoffrey Pawlowski, Steven Nedd, Michael Roberts, and Paige Rumberg, “System Architecture for Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile Defense (ASBMD),” (Monterey, CA: Department of Systems Engineering, Naval Postgraduate School, December 2009).
Recent studies suggest that China is developing a new class of ballistic missiles that can be used against moving targets, such as ships. One […]

19 December 2009

Inside the New U.S. Maritime Strategy

Lt. John Ennis, USNR, “Inside the New Maritime Strategy,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 135, No. 12 (December 2009), pp. 68-71.
Two years after it was published, A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower continues to be the subject of fierce debate among scholars, uniformed officers, government officials, and the American public. As a coauthor of […]