Andrew S. Erickson

This is the most comprehensive unclassified Chinese maritime order of battle, ship silhouettes, and data available anywhere. It tracks the world’s most-numerous Navy, Coast Guard, and Maritime Militia vessels in unrivaled detail. Even just flipping through this volume for a minute reveals the staggering scope and extent of PRC sea power across the waterfront today. I […]

This post is under construction. Please check back soon for new content.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t already, please be sure to examine the superb new edited volume detailed below…
***
Sarah Kirchberger, Svenja Sinjen, and Nils Wörmer, eds., Russia-China Relations: Emerging Alliance or Eternal Rivals? (New York, NY: Springer, 2022).
Click here to access full-text PDF.

This open access book examines Russia-China […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “2013 PRC-Ukraine Treaty of Friendship & Cooperation/Joint Communiqué: Russian, Ukrainian & Chinese Documents, Context, Timeline,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 29 August 2022. 
(Please note: The original post of 21 August 2022 has been updated to include full Chinese– and Ukrainian-language texts of the 2013 PRC-Ukraine Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.)
Since the beginning of […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “How Will China’s National Power Evolve Vis-à-vis the United States?” in Maria Adele Carrai, Jennifer Rudolph, and Michael Szonyi, eds., The China Questions 2: Critical Insights into U.S.-China Relations (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2022), 161–170.

The United States and China increasingly differ in their national systems, interests, and objectives. Never before have they been powerful simultaneously. […]

Kevin McCauley, Logistics Support for a Cross-Strait Invasion: The View from Beijing, China Maritime Report 22 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, July 2022).

About the Author
Kevin McCauley has served as senior intelligence officer for the Soviet Union, Russia, China, and Taiwan during 31 years in the federal government, as well as an […]

Once a versatile China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) team member with us at the U.S. Naval War College, subsequently the co-founder (with me) of our China SignPost™ 洞察中国 analytical website, and a valued research colleague ever since, Gabe Collins is one of the only professionals I know of who generates analysis of the highest caliber from […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Lessons from the Lunar Module Program: The Director’s Conclusions,” in Otfried Liepack, ed., Proceedings of the Fifty-Third History Symposium of the International Academy of Astronautics, American Astronautical Society (AAS) History Series, Vol. 52 (San Diego, CA: Univelt, 2022), 529–62.

Click here for information on the volume.

Chapter 25
Lessons from the Lunar Module Program: The Director’s […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Joseph Gavin and MIT’s Contribution to Aeronautics and Astronautics,” in Otfried Liepack, ed., Proceedings of the Fifty-Third History Symposium of the International Academy of Astronautics, American Astronautical Society (AAS) History Series, Vol. 52 (San Diego, CA: Univelt, 2022), 289–98.

Click here for information on the volume.

Chapter 14
Joseph Gavin and MIT’s Contribution to Aeronautics and […]

This is the most comprehensive unclassified Chinese maritime order of battle, ship silhouettes, and data available anywhere. It tracks the world’s most-numerous Navy, Coast Guard, and Maritime Militia vessels in unrivaled detail. Even just flipping through this volume for a minute reveals the staggering scope and extent of PRC sea power across the waterfront today. I […]

Sarah Kirchberger, Svenja Sinjen, and Nils Wörmer, eds., Russia-China Relations: Emerging Alliance or Eternal Rivals? (New York, NY: Springer, 2022).
Click here to access full-text PDF.

This open access book examines Russia-China relations across a variety of civilian and military areas of cooperation. It provides an up-to-date assessment of strategic cooperation fields between China and Russia; examines the potential […]

Li Weichao, “China Launches Third Aircraft Carrier,” Xinhua, 17 June 2022.

Photo taken on June 17, 2022 shows the launching ceremony of China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, in east China’s Shanghai. The carrier, named after Fujian Province, was completely designed and built by the country. (Xinhua/Li Gang) 
SHANGHAI, June 17 (Xinhua) — China launched its third […]

Ellen Nakashima and Cate Cadell, “China Secretly Building PLA Naval Facility in Cambodia, Western Officials Say,” Washington Post, 6 June 2022. 
China is secretly building a naval facility in Cambodia for the exclusive use of its military, with both countries denying that is the case and taking extraordinary measures to conceal the operation, Western officials said.
The military […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Energy Nationalism Means Coal Is Sticking Around,” Foreign Policy, 6 June 2022.
Green plans are secondary to political demands.
By Gabriel B. Collins, the Baker Botts fellow in energy and environmental regulatory affairs at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, and Andrew S. Erickson, the research director […]

Challenges to Security in Space: Space Reliance in an Era of Competition and Expansion (Washington, DC: Defense Intelligence Agency, 2022).

Click here to download a cached copy.
 p. iii
Challenges to Security in Space was first published in early 2019 to address the main threats to the array of U.S. space capabilities, and examine space and counterspace strategies and […]

U.S. Naval War College Professor William Murray’s scholarship on the military development and capacities of China and Taiwan is path-breaking, sobering, and thought-provoking. While others have worked hard to address these important issues, Prof. Murray’s scholarship is exemplary in its ability to distill complex and often misunderstood military operational issues to their essential dynamics based […]

The Administration’s Approach to the People’s Republic of China
Speech
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
The George Washington University
Washington, D.C.
May 26, 2022

Click here to watch on YouTube.
“President Biden believes this decade will be decisive. The actions that we take at home and with countries worldwide will determine whether our shared vision of the future will be realized.”

SECRETARY […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Tracking China’s ‘Little Blue Men’—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 25 May 2022.

Amid wave after wave of Coronavirus variants, fishy things have been happening across the South and East China Seas, home to virtually all of China’s unresolved maritime disputes. Since Beijing remains far from being fully forthcoming and transparent, I hope […]

Now in its 139th (!) iteration, this periodically-updated Library of Congress report is indispensable for policy-makers and analysts alike!

Ronald O’Rourke, U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 26 January 2022).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy […]

Great chapter by CMSI’s own Prof. Kardon in NBR volume edited by Nadège Rolland analyzing critical infrastructure development by PRC-affiliated entities in Africa. Insights regarding PRC motives, Huawei undersea cables, and more! Download full text, read key excerpts/highlights here…
Xi Jinping: “there’s a common saying, ‘if you want to get rich, first build a road,’ but in […]