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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.

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 […]

01 June 2008

Information Technology and China’s Naval Modernization

Andrew S. Erickson and Michael S. Chase, “Information Technology and China’s Naval Modernization,” Joint Force Quarterly 50.3 (July 2008): 24-30.
Required reading for the Naval War College Strategy and Policy Department’s Intermediate Leadership Course.
In recent years, the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has become a high priority for senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders and high-ranking […]

15 May 2008

Observing Chinese Reactions to the New Maritime Strategy

“Observing Chinese Reactions to the New Maritime Strategy,” Information Dissemination, 14 May 2008.
Dr. Andrew S. Erickson is one of the premier sources on Chinese Maritime analysis, and a blog favorite. Previous coverage of his work here and here. Last year Dr. Erickson published New U.S. Maritime Strategy: Initial Chinese Responses, an examination and insightful study […]

02 May 2008

The Container Security Initiative and Maritime Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific

Andrew S. Erickson, “The Container Security Initiative and Maritime Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific,” in 沈丁立, 任晓, 主编 [Shen Dingli and Ren Xiao, chief eds.], 亚洲地缘经济与政治 [Geoeconomics and Politics in Asia], (Shanghai: 上海人民出版社 [Shanghai People’s Press], 2008), 139-73.
1. Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Challenges and Emerging Cooperation
It is well known that the Asia-Pacific region faces significant security challenges, […]

19 April 2008

Blocking the Hormuz Strait: China’s Energy Dilemma

Yitzhak Shichor, “Blocking the Hormuz Strait: China’s Energy Dilemma,” Jamestown China Brief, Vol. 8, No. 18, 22 September 2008.
Over the last few weeks Iran has amplified its threats that, if attacked, it would immediately close the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint nestled between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard […]

15 April 2008

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Speech to Association of American Universities

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Speech to Association of American Universities (Washington, D.C.), Monday, 14 April 2008.
“The Chinese government publishes a tremendous amount of information about military and technological developments on an open-source basis. However, it is often inconvenient, if not impossible, for American researchers to get access to this material since it is often […]

31 March 2008

Asia Eyes America: Regional Perspectives on U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategy in the Twenty-first Century

Jonathan D. Pollack, ed., Asia Eyes America: Regional Perspectives on U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategy in the Twenty-first Century (Newport, RI: Naval War College Press, 31 March 2008).
Contains a collection of papers produced by participants (U.S. and regional scholars and analysts) at a conference,“Asia Eyes America,” held at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, in […]

21 March 2008

Building for the Future: China’s Progress in Space Technology during the Tenth 5-Year Plan and the U.S. Response

Kevin Pollpeter, Building for the Future: China’s Progress in Space Technology during the Tenth 5-Year Plan and the U.S. Response (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 21 March 2008).
The Chinese government is using space power to increase its influence at home and abroad and hopes to leverage the political, economic, and military benefits […]

09 March 2008

Presented at Harvard Asia Business Conference 2008

Andrew S. Erickson, “International Security and Business in Asia,” presented at panel discussion, Harvard Asia Business Conference, “Asia: Reshaping the World,” Cambridge, MA, 8 March 2008.

08 March 2008

Chinese Shipbuilding: Growing Fast, But How Good Is It?

Lt. Cdr. Michael C. Grubb, USN, and Gabriel Collins, “Chinese Shipbuilding: Growing Fast, But How Good Is It?” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 134, No. 3 (March 2008).
China’s rapid technical advances in shipbuilding, and the industry’s dual civilian-military role, raises the strategically important question of how its growing commercial shipbuilding prowess might facilitate naval modernization.
The […]

01 March 2008

PLA Navy Modernization: Preparing for ‘Informatized’ War at Sea

Andrew S. Erickson and Michael S. Chase, “PLA Navy Modernization: Preparing for ‘Informatized’ War at Sea,” Jamestown China Brief 8.5 (29 February 2008): 2-5.
In recent years, senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders and high-ranking military officers have repeatedly emphasized the importance of naval modernization. This growing sense of urgency about naval modernization appears to be a function […]