Andrew S. Erickson

FBI Seeking Information Related to Violent Activity
at the U.S Capitol Building
https://tips.fbi.gov/digitalmedia/aad18481a3e8f02
The FBI is seeking information that will assist in identifying individuals who are actively instigating violence in Washington, DC. The FBI is accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting and violence in the U.S. Capitol Building and surrounding area in Washington, DC, on January 6, […]

Zoe Haver, Sansha City in China’s South China Sea Strategy: Building a System of Administrative Control, China Maritime Report 12 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, January 2021).
China established Sansha City in 2012 to administer the bulk of its territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea. Sansha is headquartered on Woody Island. […]

Manfred Meyer (edited by Larry Bond and Chris Carlson), Modern Chinese Maritime Forces (Admiralty Trilogy Group, 1 January 2021).

“A compilation of all ships and boats of the Chinese Navy, Coast Guard, Maritime Militia and other state authorities”
In terms of ship numbers, each of China’s three sea forces is the world’s largest by a large margin. For […]

Tragedy overhangs a deadened metropolis. Under gathering clouds, the many Hong Kongers who remain face grave disappointments, setbacks, and risks. Beijing has adopted, and is implementing with swift suffocation, a popularly-opposed National Security Law that invalidates core One Country, Two Systems-promised protections. Fast eroding: some of Hong Kongers’ most cherished values and freedoms. Among the many sad losses […]

Andrew S. Erickson, interviewed by Harry J. Kazianis, “Advantage At Sea: U.S. Maritime Strategy Focuses On China,” 19FortyFive, 22 December 2020.

Republished in RealClearDefense.

Editor’s Note: We recently spoke with Dr. Andrew Erickson, a professor of strategy in the U.S. Naval War College (NWC)’s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI), to get his take on the newly released U.S. maritime strategy, Advantage […]

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, 19 December 2020.

As Coronavirus rages on, 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, it is to be hoped […]

This 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, 17 December 2020).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 17 December 2020).
Having trouble accessing the website above? Please download a cached copy here!
You can also click here to access the report via the public CRS website.

In addition to his continuous incremental improvements, Ronald O’Rourke has revised this latest edition […]

Michael S. Chase and Jennifer D. P. Moroney, Regional Responses to U.S.-China Competition in the Indo-Pacific: Australia and New Zealand RR-4412/1-AF (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2020). 
This report on Australia and New Zealand is part of a project examining the perspectives of U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific as they formulate and implement their responses to […]

Jeffrey Becker, Securing China’s Lifelines across the Indian Ocean, China Maritime Report 11 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, December 2020).
How is China thinking about protecting sea lines of communication (SLOCs) and maritime chokepoints in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in times of crisis or conflict? Relying on Chinese policy documents and […]

Andrew J. Rhodes is a career civil servant who has served as an expert in Asia-Pacific affairs in a variety of analytic, advisory, and staff positions across the Department of Defense and the interagency. He earned a BA in political science from Davidson College in Davidson, NC, an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins […]

Ja Ian Chong, “The Challenges in Resetting U.S.–Southeast Asia Relations,” East Asia Forum, 10 December 2020.
Ja Ian Chong is Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore.
The incoming Biden administration needs to be ready for a Southeast Asia that is more skeptical of US commitment and careful about Beijing’s reactions. Southeast Asian […]

A well-written, high-impact, must-read document. Includes a great graphic showing the very first public estimates of China Maritime Militia ship numbers that I’ve seen (courtesy of the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence)!
Advantage at Sea: Prevailing with Integrated All-Domain Naval Power (Washington, DC: U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard, 17 December 2020).
Click here to […]

This 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, 25 November 2020).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the […]

James E. Fanell, U.S. Navy (Ret.), “China’s Global Navy—Today’s Challenge for the United States and the U.S. Navy,” Naval War College Review 73.4 (Autumn 2020): 1–33.
Click here to read related testimony and article by the author.
The PRC continues to build a naval force that, if left unchallenged, will be increasingly capable of achieving sea control in […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 3 December 2020).
Having trouble accessing the website above? Please download a cached copy here!
You can also click here to access the report via the public CRS website.
***
In addition to his continuous incremental improvements, Ronald O’Rourke has revised this latest edition […]

National Space Policy of the United States of America (Washington, DC: The White House, 9 December 2020).
Related documents available via Office of Space Commerce.
Click here to read additional space policy documents.

State Department statement:
The President’s National Space Policy, released yesterday, outlines America’s principles and goals regarding our national interests and activities in space. The policy reaffirms […]

For analysis of Chinese maritime policy and China Coast Guard development, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. Enjoy this fully updated one-stop library of my colleague Ryan Martinson’s work. It’s well worth reading all of these superb publications and interviews, even as they exceed three dozen in number!
Andrew S. Erickson, “The Ryan Martinson […]

Ronald O’Rourke, Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress, R43838 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 3 December 2020).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the report via the new public CRS website.

Summary
Many observers have concluded that the post-Cold War era of international relations—which […]