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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.

14 May 2010

Potential ASBM Countermeasures: “The Strategic Implications of Obscurants”

Thomas J. Culora, “The Strategic Implications of Obscurants: History and the Future,” Naval War College Review, Vol. 63, No. 3 (Summer 2010), pp. 73-84.
Throughout history, smoke has been used in various forms to obscure naval forces at sea. During prominent naval battles in the twentieth century, from Jutland in World War I to the U.S. […]

14 May 2010

Chinese Missile Strategy and the U.S. Naval Presence in Japan: The Operational View from Beijing

Toshi Yoshihara, “Chinese Missile Strategy and the U.S. Naval Presence in Japan: The Operational View from Beijing,” Naval War College Review, Vol. 63, No. 3 (Summer 2010), pp. 39-62.
In recent years, defense analysts in the United States have substantially revised their estimates of China’s missile prowess. A decade ago, most observers rated Beijing’s ballistic missiles […]

14 May 2010

Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, Reviews China Goes to Sea

Jeremy Black, “The Pursuit of Maritime Transformation”; 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, July 2009); Naval War College Review, Vol. 63, No. 3 (Summer 2010), pp. 156-57.
The third book in the Naval Institute Press’s […]

12 May 2010

“U.S. Satellites Shadow China’s Submarines”

Peter J. Brown, “U.S. Satellites Shadow China’s Submarines,” Asia Times, 12 May 2010.
… “Chinese experts reportedly received technical assistance from Russian satellite experts in years following the Soviet Union’s collapse,” said associate professor Andrew Erickson at the China Maritime Studies Institute. “Specialists at the State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environmental Dynamics have researched ship […]

11 May 2010

NWC CMSI Conference Addresses Sino-American Non-Traditional Maritime Security Challenges

“Naval War College Discusses Chinese and American Maritime Challenges,” Naval War College Public Affairs, 11 May 2010.
NEWPORT, R.I. – The China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the Naval War College presented a conference, May 4-5, entitled “Chinese and American Approaches to Non-Traditional Security Challenges: Implications for the Maritime Domain.”
This annual conference served to continue a […]

06 May 2010

Letter to Proceedings Editor re China ASBM Development

Andrew S. Erickson, Response to “Get Off the Fainting Couch,” C. Hooper and C. Albon, pp. 42-47, April 2010 Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 136, No. 5 (May 2010), pp. 8-12.
I welcome the authors’ forceful contribution concerning Chinese antiship ballistic missile (ASBM) development. They correctly underscore Chinese sensitivity, and vulnerability, to foreign prompt global […]

03 May 2010

Naval War College Discusses Chinese and American Maritime Challenges

Chris Boardman, “Naval War College Discusses Chinese and American Maritime Challenges,” Newport ABC 6, 30 April 2010.
NEWPORT, R.I. (April 30, 2010) – The China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the Naval War College is presenting a conference, May 4-5, entitled “Chinese and American Approaches to Non-Traditional Security Challenges: Implications for the Maritime Domain.”
Media are invited […]

01 May 2010

Contributions to Naval War College Curriculum

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, Vol. 63, No. 2 (Spring 2010), pp. 88-111.

Required reading for the National Security Decision-Making Department’s Strategy and Theater Security Course.

Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, “China Studies the […]

01 May 2010

Response to “Get Off the Fainting Couch,” C. Hooper and C. Albon, pp. 42-47, April 2010 Proceedings

Andrew S. Erickson, Response to “Get Off the Fainting Couch,” C. Hooper and C. Albon, pp. 42-47, April 2010 Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 136.5 (May 2010): 8-12.

Andrew S. Erickson, Associate Professor, China Maritime Studies Institute, Naval War College—I welcome the authors’ forceful contribution concerning Chinese antiship ballistic missile (ASBM) development. They correctly underscore Chinese sensitivity, and vulnerability, […]

01 May 2010

“China’s National Security: Chinese and American Perspectives” Course Offered at Yonsei University, Summer 2010

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s National Security: Chinese and American Perspectives,” Course IEE2036, Yonsei University International Summer School, Seoul, South Korea, Summer 2010.
China’s rapid development is reshaping the world in all dimensions. Like any nation, China has its own core national security interests. As the most dynamic great power in the international system today, however, China […]

25 April 2010

CMSI ‘Red Book’ #5: “Five Dragons Stirring Up the Sea: Challenge and Opportunity in China’s Improving Maritime Enforcement Capabilities”

Lyle J. Goldstein, Five Dragons Stirring Up the Sea: Challenge and Opportunity in China’s Improving Maritime Enforcement Capabilities, Naval War College China Maritime Study 5 (April 2010).
Today, China remains relatively weak in the crucially important middle domain of maritime power, that between commercial prowess and hard military power, which is concerned with maritime governance—enforcing a nation’s own laws […]

23 April 2010

“Navy Nears Tipping Point as New Threats Rise”

William R. Hawkins, “Navy Nears Tipping Point as New Threats Rise,” Family Security Matters, 23 April 2010.
Last month, the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) published the disturbing study The Navy at a Tipping Point: Maritime Dominance at Stake? by Daniel Whiteneck, Michael Price, Neil Jenkins, and Peter Swartz. It warned that at its present size, […]

21 April 2010

China Maritime Security Conference Set to Begin

Wendell Minnick, “China Maritime Security Conference Set to Begin,” Defense News, 21 Apr 2010.
The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, R.I., will host a conference from May 4-5 entitled “Chinese and American Approaches to Non-Traditional Security Challenges: Implications for the Maritime Domain.”
Sponsored by the NWC’s China Maritime Studies Institute, the objective of the conference […]

21 April 2010

Erickson Quoted in Asia Times Regarding Chinese Naval Exercise and Yaogan Satellites

Peter J. Brown, “China’s Navy Cruises into Pacific Ascendancy,” Asia Times, 22 April 2010.
…the role of space assets and space defense-related issues [has] slipped under the radar in large part thus far. What is unfolding overhead in support of any or all of the PLAN operations may be the most significant aspect of this recent […]

19 April 2010

China Goes to Sea: Lecture at Naval War College Museum, Thursday 22 April 2010, 12 noon-1 pm

Andrew S. Erickson, “China Goes to Sea: Lessons from the Past,” Eight Bells Book Lecture, Naval War College Museum, 22 April 2010.

Lecture summarized in John W. Kennedy, “Is China Focusing on Seapower?” Newport Navalog 109.17 (30 April 2010), 3, 14.

Time: Thursday 22 April, 12 noon-1 pm
Location: 2nd Deck, Naval War College Museum, Newport, RI 02841-1207
Point […]

16 April 2010

Chinese Defense Expenditures: Implications for Naval Modernization

Andrew S. Erickson, “Chinese Defense Expenditures: Implications for Naval Modernization,” Jamestown China Brief 10.8 (16 April 2010): 11-15.
The extent and nature of Chinese defense spending can serve as the parameters for the future course of China’s military power and China’s intentions as it continues military modernization. Recent scholarship on China’s defense spending concludes that its military […]

09 April 2010

Congressional Research Service Report on China Naval Modernization

Ronald O’Rourke, “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress,” Congressional Research Service, 23 December 2009.
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The issue is of particular importance to the U.S. […]

06 April 2010

“China Sets Sail” Published in The American Interest

Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and Carnes Lord, “China Sets Sail,” The American Interest 5.5 (Summer, May/June 2010): 27-34.
It’s not easy for a traditional land power to go to sea, but China is trying.
China has been undergoing an historic shift in emphasis from land to naval power. Is its maritime buildup a strategic necessity […]

05 April 2010

“Chinese Anti-ship Missile Could Alter U.S. Power”

Wendell Minnick, “Chinese Anti-ship Missile Could Alter U.S. Power,” Defense News, 5 April 2010, p. 6.
… Debate about the existence of a Chinese ASBM program was recently settled by U.S. Navy Adm. Robert Willard in March 23 testimony to Congress. The leader of U.S. Pacific Command told lawmakers that China is “developing and testing a […]