Andrew S. Erickson

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 […]

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 […]

“Observing Chinese Theories of Naval Warfare,” Information Dissemination, 17 February 2008.
…the authors of that publication are the primary sources for what we do know about PLAN thinking behind Mine Warfare. Dr. Andrew Erickson, Ph.D., Lyle Goldstein, Ph.D., & William Murray authored an excellent article in Undersea Warfare Magazine Winter 2007, an article we have previously […]

Norman Polmar, “Is There a Mine Threat?” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 134.2 (February 2008): 88-89.
If Chinese offensive mining is a concern, the U.S. Navy isn’t saying much about it. … Similarly, numerous articles in Proceedings, the Naval War College Review, and other professional publications address the Chinese submarine threat, but China’s use of mines is rarely mentioned. … The […]

Andrew S. Erickson, Gabriel B. Collins, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, “Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force,” Naval War College Review 61.1 (Winter 2008): 68–86.
Republished as a two-part series:

Gabriel B. Collins, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, “Capability Analysis: Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, Pt. 1,” […]

Andrew S. Erickson, review of Ronald O’Rourke, The Impact of Chinese Naval Modernization and the Future of the United States Navy (New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2006), Naval War College Review 61.1 (Winter 2008): 130-31.
Well written, succinct, and timely, this balanced assessment of Chinese naval weaknesses and strengths offers specific technological development and procurement alternatives to […]

Gurpreet S. Khurana, “China’s ‘String of Pearls’ in the Indian Ocean and Its Security Implications,” Strategic Analysis, Vol. 32, No. 1(January 2008), pp. 1-39.
China’s efforts to build ‘nodes’ of influence in the Indian Ocean Region have been increasingly discernible in recent years. This endeavour, many argue, is driven by Beijing’s military-strategic ends. However, such an […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Boomers: Implications if China’s Deterrent Goes to Sea,” presented at panel discussion, New America Foundation, Washington, DC, 9 January 2008.
The public revelation that China has constructed two or more new ballistic missile submarines raises a number of strategic, operational and bureaucratic questions about the future of nuclear arsenals held by China […]

Raymond Pritchett [“Galrahn”], “It’s Always Nice to Get the Chinese Perspective,” Information Dissemination, 8 January 2008.
Last Thursday we highlighted the Winter 2008 Review at the Naval War College that has an excellent essay titled Chinese Evaluations of the US Navy Submarine Force. We found this essay to be excellent, well cited, indeed well put together […]

Raymond Pritchett [“Galrahn”], “Reading Bliss for Observers of Submarines and China,” Information Dissemination, 3 January 2008.
… Inside Winter 2008 you will find reading bliss for submarine observers like us. If you want to get a head start, check it out, because we intend to spend extra time blogging about the essay “Chinese Evaluations of the […]

Michael Sheehan, The International Politics of Space (New York: Routledge, 27 December 2007).
The year 2007 saw the fiftieth anniversary of the Space Age, which began with the launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in October 1957. Space is crucial to the politics of the postmodern world. It has seen competition and cooperation in the past […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Can China Become a Maritime Power?” in Toshi Yoshihara and James Holmes, eds., Asia Looks Seaward: Power and Maritime Strategy (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2008), 70-110.
Despite possessing a coastline some 7,830 nautical miles long and some 3,400 offshore islands, China has pursued maritime development in an atmosphere of considerable uncertainty. The […]

Tim Johnson, “As Military Balks, Chinese Public Pushes for Aircraft Carriers,” McClatchy Newspapers, 8 November 2007.
…China remains the only major global power without aircraft carriers in its fleet. For years, military leaders have weighed the pride that such vessels would bring the nation with the costs and complexity of operating the giant ships, continually postponing […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “Beijing’s Energy Security Strategy: The Significance of a Chinese State-Owned Tanker Fleet,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, Orbis 51.4 (Fall 2007): 665-84.
Chinese shipping firms are aggressively expanding their oil tanker fleets. Although China’s state energy firms support national energy security goals in their rhetoric, and China’s state shipbuilders are striving to […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “A Coming Confrontation With the U.S. Over Taiwan?” review of John Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai, Imagined Enemies: China Prepares for Uncertain War (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006), Naval War College Review 60.4 (Autumn 2007): 139-40.
This sophisticated Chinese-language research, based on numerous original sources and interviews, completes Lewis and Xue’s authoritative […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “New U.S. Maritime Strategy: Initial Chinese Responses,” China Security, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Autumn 2007), pp. 40-61.
The United States unquestionably remains the country with the largest stake in the security of the oceans. It must safeguard its 8.8 million square kilometers of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) – more than any other nation […]

Alan Wachman, Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for China’s Territorial Integrity (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 15 September 2007).
Why has the PRC been so determined that Taiwan be part of China? Why, since the 1990s, has Beijing been feverishly developing means to prevail in combat with the U.S. over Taiwan’s status? Why is Taiwan worth fighting […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel Collins, “China’s Maritime Evolution: Military and Commercial Factors,” Pacific Focus 22.2 (Fall 2007): 47-75.

Required reading for the Naval War College Joint Military Operations Department’s Joint Land, Air, and Sea Simulation (JLASS) Fall Elective (FE) 535A.

China is rapidly emerging as a maritime power, with global commercial and regional military influence. Historically preoccupied […]

Lyle J. Goldstein, “China: A New Maritime Partner?,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 133, No. 8 (August 2007).
The U.S. Coast Guard is opening the door to a cooperative relationship with China.
China’s maritime development is gathering steam. It is challenging South Korea and Japan for dominance of the global shipbuilding market. More than 1,700 ships carry […]