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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.

01 February 2009

CMSI ‘Red Book’ #2: “Scouting, Signaling, and Gatekeeping: Chinese Naval Operations in Japanese Waters and the International Law Implications”

Peter A. Dutton, Scouting, Signaling, and Gatekeeping: Chinese Naval Operations in Japanese Waters and the International Law Implications, Naval War College China Maritime Study 2 (February 2009).
The Han incident was not the first (or last) incursion to cause the JMSDF to exercise its submarine-hunting and -tracking capabilities. Over the past decade, the Japanese have observed more frequent submarine operations activities […]

01 February 2009

Book Review: Entering the Dragon’s Lair: Chinese Antiaccess Strategies and Their Implications for the United States

Andrew S. Erickson, review of Roger Cliff et al., Entering the Dragon’s Lair: Chinese Antiaccess Strategies and Their Implications for the United States (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2007), Naval War College Review 62.1 (Winter 2009): 150-51.
This study has already attracted widespread attention from the policy community and media, for good reason. The U.S. military appears poised to […]

01 January 2009

China is Developing Big Military Space Capabilities Using Small Satellite Payloads

Craig Covault, “Size Doesn’t Matter–China is Developing Big Military Space Capabilities Using Small Satellite Payloads,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, December 22/29 2008, pp. 22-24.
… “Microsatellite production offers Beijing three major benefits: Support for national development, lucrative and geostrategically relevant foreign sales [and] potential military space control applications,” says Andrew S. Erickson, assistant professor of […]

08 December 2008

Military Diplomacy: The Future of Sino-Indian Military Relations?

Bhartendu Kumar Singh, “Military Diplomacy: The Future of Sino-Indian Military Relations?” Jamestown China Brief, Vol. 8, No. 23, 8 December 2008.
Military relations between rising powers are often caught in a conflictual cycle. Yet Sino–Indian military relations is an exception in spite of wariness on both sides of the others strategic intentions. While the two states […]

30 October 2008

Aircraft Carriers: China’s way to Great Power Status?

Major Kim Nødskov, Royal Danish Air Force (Ret.), “Aircraft Carriers: China’s way to Great Power Status?,” Royal Danish Defence College, October 2008.

This research paper on the Chinese Carrier project, which is based on open sources, addresses the Chinese efforts to acquire an aircraft carrier.
China has vital strategic interests in the South China Sea and […]

01 October 2008

Assessing the New U.S. Maritime Strategy: A Window into Chinese Thinking–Part 1 of 4

Andrew S. Erickson, “Assessing the New U.S. Maritime Strategy: A Window into Chinese Thinking,” (Annotated translation and analysis of three Chinese articles), Naval War College Review 61.4 (Autumn 2008): 35-71.
Chinese reactions to the U.S. Navy’s new maritime strategy provide a window into a larger strategic dynamic—not just in East Asia, where China is already developing as […]

01 October 2008

Assessing the New U.S. Maritime Strategy: A Window into Chinese Thinking–Part 2 of 4

陆儒德 [Lu Rude], “美海上新战略浮出水面” [The New U.S. Maritime Strategy Surfaces], 人民海军 [People’s Navy], 27 November 2007, p. 3. Translated by Andrew Erickson, in “Assessing the New U.S. Maritime Strategy: A Window into Chinese Thinking,” Naval War College Review 61.4 (Autumn 2008): 35-71.
Required reading for the Naval War College Strategy and Policy Department’s Senior and Intermediate Leadership Courses.
In […]

01 October 2008

Assessing the New U.S. Maritime Strategy: A Window into Chinese Thinking–Part 3 of 4

王宝付 [Wang Baofu], “美军 ‘海上战略’ 与未来军事转型” [The U.S. Military’s “Maritime Strategy” and Future Military Transformation], 学习时报 [Study Times], 22 January 2008, www.lianghui.org.cn. Translated by Andrew Erickson, in “Assessing the New U.S. Maritime Strategy: A Window into Chinese Thinking,” Naval War College Review 61.4 (Autumn 2008): 35-71.
In October 2007, the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard […]

01 October 2008

Book Review: Right-Sizing the People’s Liberation Army: Exploring the Contours of China’s Military

Andrew S. Erickson, review of Roy Kamphausen and Andrew Scobell, eds., Right-Sizing the People’s Liberation Army: Exploring the Contours of China’s Military (Carlisle, PA: Army War College, 2007), Naval War College Review 61.4 (Autumn 2008): 152-53.
This edited volume combines high-level inquiry into the larger purposes and dimensions of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reforms with fresh data that […]

01 October 2008

Assessing the New U.S. Maritime Strategy: A Window into Chinese Thinking–Part 4 of 4

苏浩, 吴兵 [Su Hao and Wu Bing], “美国海上战略新思路—‘21世纪海权的合作战略’ 报告评述” [The U.S. Maritime Strategy’s New Thinking–Reviewing the “Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower” Report], 领导者 [Leaders] No. 19, December 2007, 29-30. Translated by Andrew Erickson, in “Assessing the New U.S. Maritime Strategy: A Window into Chinese Thinking,” Naval War College Review 61.4 (Autumn 2008): 35-71.
On 17 October […]

06 September 2008

U.S. and China Resume Space Cooperation Talks

Craig Covault, “U.S. and China Resume Space Cooperation Talks,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 5 September 2008.
… The advanced technology involved in the new manned Shenzhou and robotic imaging constellation missions, coupled with cooperative space measures by the Chinese government, is a powerful reminder that China continues on the move in space, says Andrew S. […]

21 August 2008

The Long Shadow: Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century Asia

Chu Shulong and Rong Yu, “China: Dynamic Minimum Deterrence,” pp. 161-87; Chapter 5 in Multhiah Alagappa, ed., The Long Shadow: Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century Asia (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 21 August 2008).
The Long Shadow is the first comprehensive, systematic examination of the roles and implications of nuclear weapons in the dramatically […]

10 August 2008

Energy Security and Global Politics: The Militarization of Resource Management

Jacqueline Newmyer, “Chinese Energy Security and the Chinese Regime,” pp. 188-210, chapter 10 in Daniel Moran and James A. Russell, eds., Energy Security and Global Politics: The Militarization of Resource Management (New York: Routledge, 10 September 2008).
This book analyses the strategic dimensions of energy security, particularly where energy resources have become the object of military […]

01 August 2008

National Security Challenges and Competition: Defense and Space R&D in the Chinese Strategic Context

Andrew S. Erickson and Kathleen Walsh, “National Security Challenges and Competition: Defense and Space R&D in the Chinese Strategic Context,” Technology in Society: An International Journal, special issue “Science and technology in China, India, and the United States: Assessments and Comparisons,” 30.3-4 (August-November 2008): 349-61.
Over the nearly six decades since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) […]

01 August 2008

CMSI ‘Red Book’ #1: “A Comprehensive Survey of China’s Dynamic Shipbuilding Industry: Commercial Development and Strategic Implications”

Gabriel B. Collins and Lieutenant Commander Michael C. Grubb, U.S. Navy, A Comprehensive Survey of China’s Dynamic Shipbuilding Industry: Commercial Development and Strategic Implications, Naval War College China Maritime Study 1 (August 2008).
China’s dynamic shipbuilding sector now has the attention of key decision makers in Washington. During testimony before the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives […]

21 July 2008

To Lead the World: American Strategy After the Bush Doctrine

James Kurth, “Boss of Bosses,” pp. 109-132; chapter 5 in Melvyn P. Leffler and Jeffrey W. Legro, eds., To Lead the World: American Strategy After the Bush Doctrine (New York: Oxford University Press, 21 July 2008).
U.S. national security policy is at a critically important crossroads. … In To Lead the World, Melvyn P. Leffler and […]

01 July 2008

The Growth of China’s Navy: Implications for Indian Ocean Security

Andrew S. Erickson, “The Growth of China’s Navy: Implications for Indian Ocean Security,” Strategic Analysis 32.4 (July 2008): 655-76.
China’s rapid naval development raises pressing questions about its future scope and purpose. Examination of Beijing’s evolving economic, energy, and geopolitical interests as well as emerging People’s Liberation Army (PLA) doctrine suggests a growing concern over the security of […]

30 June 2008

China’s Naval Ambitions in the Indian Ocean

James R. Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara, “China’s Naval Ambitions in the Indian Ocean,” Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3 (June 2008), pp. 367-94.
This article argues that an increasingly sea-power-minded China will neither shelter passively in coastal waters, nor throw itself into competition with the United States in the Pacific Ocean. Rather, Beijing will […]

16 June 2008

China’s Energy Strategy: The Impact on Beijing’s Maritime Policies (CMSI Vol. 2)

Gabriel B. Collins, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, eds., China’s Energy Strategy: The Impact on Beijing’s Maritime Policies (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2008).

Now available on Kindle!

Coauthor:

Gabriel B. Collins, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, “Introduction,” xi–xix.
Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “Chinese Efforts to Create a […]