Andrew S. Erickson

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Playing with Fire? Potential Impact of a North Korean Threat to South Korean Oil Refineries,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 8 (29 November 2010).
North Korea’s recent shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island raises the risk of armed confrontation in the region. If its core demands were not met, North Korea […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Follow the Money: ‘Rich Lists’ Hint at Sectors that May Become Future Wealth Generators,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 7 (26 November 2010).
Forbes Magazine recently published “rich lists” of the wealthiest people in China and the US. Analyzing the holdings of the 100 wealthiest people in each country helps give […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Factors Behind China’s Latest Diesel Fuel Shortage,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 6 (21 November 2010).
Over the past few weeks, many parts of China have been experiencing diesel fuel shortages. The existence of the shortages has been well-chronicled by many Chinese and foreign media outlets, but there has been much […]

A new dedicated website, China SignPost™ 洞察中国 (http://www.chinasignpost.com/), provides complete access to concise analyses regarding China’s domestic development and growing international presence. They are published regularly by Dr. Andrew Erickson and Mr. Gabe Collins. 7 Research Notes are already available, and more will follow soon. Posting of comments on this site is highly encouraged, as […]

Y. J. Sithara N. Fernando, China’s Maritime Relations with South Asia: From Confrontation to Co-operation (Part One), Future Analysis Paper, Strategic Directions International, 24 November 2010.
This two-part Strategic Analysis Paper will examine China’s maritime relations with South Asia since it adopted its policy of “opening up to the outside world” in 1978. It identifies the […]

Daniel Kostecka, “Hambantota, Chittagong, and the Maldives—Unlikely Pearls for the Chinese Navy,” Jamestown China Brief, Vol. 10, No. 23 (19 November 2010).
Much of the discussion regarding China’s maritime ambitions in the Indian Ocean has revolved around the so-called “String of Pearls” strategy that Beijing is alleged to be pursuing. As part of this strategic construct […]

Ian Easton, “China’s Secret Co-orbital Satellites: The Quiet Surge in Space,” AsiaEye, 9 November 2010.
The emergence of space as a strategic frontier in the Asia-Pacific has raised concerns that China’s nascent space capabilities could be employed in future military operations. Beijing’s rapid progress in space has been marked by milestones such as manned space flights, […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Gray Gold: China’s Rare Earth Power Play, Impacts, and Suggested Consumer Responses,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 5 (3 November 2010).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
***Note: this summary version does not contain graphics, which are available in the PDF edition.***
Tighter export quotas for rare earth elements (REEs) from China and the […]

“Empire—The Asian Arms Race,” Al Jazeera English, 30 October 2010.
This is the Asia-focused segment of a larger program that Al Jazeera describes as follows:
The world has entered a new arms race at a time of relative peace, totalling $1.5 trillion, that is $217 for every person on the planet.
Over the last decade, Washington has doubled […]

Robert D. Kaplan, Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power (New York: Random House, 2010).
Promotional Summary from Publisher:
On the world maps common in America, the Indian Ocean all but disappears. The Western Hemisphere lies front and center, while the Indian Ocean region is relegated to the edges, split up along the maps’ […]

John Bradford, “U.S. Strategic Interests and Cooperative Activities in Maritime Southeast Asia,” in John Bradford, James Manicom, Sheldon W. Simon, and Neil A. Quartaro, Maritime Security in Southeast Asia: U.S., Japanese, Regional, and Industry Strategies, National Bureau of Asian Research Special Report #24 (Seattle, WA: NBR, November 2010), pp. 17-29.
Executive Summary

U.S. maritime strategy’s focus […]

David Reese, “International Fellows Program Strives to Strengthen Partnerships at NWC,” Naval War College Public Affairs, 28 October 2010.
NEWPORT, R.I. – The Naval War College (NWC) has implemented an International Fellows Program which is designed to solidify relationships between the United States Navy and the navies of partner countries. The International Fellows’ job is to assist […]

James Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara, “Understanding Asia-Pacific Sea Power,” The Diplomat, 21 October 2010.
It’s a sobering thought that even analysts steeped in naval affairs disagree about how to tally up who exactly has the strongest fleet. Writing in the Washington Post last month, Robert Kaplan declared in passing that China had constructed ‘the world’s second-largest […]

Bo Kong, “The Geopolitics of the Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipelines,” Chapter 5 in Edward Chow, Leigh E. Hendrix, Mikkal E. Herberg, Shoichi Itoh, Bo Kong, Marie Lall and Paul Stevens, eds., Pipeline Politics in Asia: The Intersection of Demand, Energy Markets, and Supply Routes, NBR Special Report 23 (Seattle, WA: National Bureau of Asian […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Be Careful What You Wish For: Further Appreciation of China’s Currency Would Deliver Positive and Negative Results for U.S.,” China Signpost™(洞察中国) 4 (12 October 2010).
China Signpost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
On 29 September 2010, the US House of Representatives passed the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act by a […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Aerospace Development: an Indicator of China’s Future Trajectory,” presented through Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program, Center for Government and International Studies, Harvard University, 14 October 2010.

Thursday, October 14, 2010 12:15 pm
Aerospace Development: An Indicator of China’s Future Trajectory
Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, U.S. Naval War College; China and the World Postdoctoral Fellow
China is the […]

Michael Chase, “Not in Our Backyard: China’s Emerging Anti-Access Strategy,” The Progressive Fix, 7 October 2010. (Part 2 of 3).
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has enjoyed an unparalleled ability to project military power around the globe, as the world’s leading superpower.

But in recent years, potential U.S. rivals have invested […]

Bill Gertz, “Chinese Missile Test,” Washington Times, 6 October 2010.
“A U.S. official confirmed that China’s military fired a missile from the Taiyuan missile center, about 320 miles southwest of Beijing, to Korla, a city in western China some 1,800 miles away” on 25 September.
“China watchers in Asia and the United States were alerted to the […]

Andrew S. Erickson, Walter C. Ladwig III, and Justin D. Mikolay, “Diego Garcia and the United States’ Emerging Indian Ocean Strategy,” Asian Security 6.3 (Autumn 2010): 214-37.
An ungated full-text PDF is available here.
Click here to access the full-text PDF directly from Asian Security.
Cited in “Diego Garcia,” Wikipedia.
Abstract: As the world’s economic and strategic “center of gravity” […]