Andrew S. Erickson

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, Hold The Line through 2035: A Strategy to Offset China’s Revisionist Actions and Sustain a Rules-Based Order in the Asia-Pacific (Houston, TX: Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, 12 November 2020).
The authors offer strategies to counter an increasingly aggressive China and to position the Indo-Asia-Pacific for continued prosperity […]

Professor Michael Chase, my former Naval War College colleague, has both extensive U.S. government experience and a set of publications that are must-reads for scholars, policy-makers, and all others following PRC military progress and power. It has been a great honor and pleasure to collaborate with Dr. Chase on multiple research and writing projects over […]

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 […]

Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress R41153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 4 November 2020).
Click here to download a cached copy. 

KEY CHINA-RELATED TEXT:
p. 29
China in the Arctic
China’s Growing Activities in the Arctic
China’s diplomatic, economic, and scientific activities in the Arctic have grown steadily in recent years, and have emerged as a […]

Capt. Christopher P. Carlson, USNR (Ret.), PLAN Force Structure Projection Concept: A Methodology for Looking Down Range, China Maritime Report 10 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, November 2020).
Force structure projections of an adversary’s potential order of battle are an essential input into the strategic planning process. Currently, the majority of […]

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, 1 November 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 […]

Now in its 117th iteration, not far behind its counterpart on PLA Navy development, 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, 27 October 2020).
If you have trouble accessing […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 28 October 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 of […]

Roderick Lee and Morgan Clemens, Organizing to Fight in the Far Seas: The Chinese Navy in an Era of Military Reform, China Maritime Report 9 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, October 2020). 
CMSI has just published China Maritime Report No. 9, entitled Organizing to Fight in the Far Seas: The Chinese Navy in an Era […]

Honored to contribute to Admiral McDevitt’s landmark book. This must-read volume rightly recognizes China as already having unmatched across-the-board maritime capabilities in 2020, and offers PLA Navy projections to 2035!
Andrew S. Erickson and Conor M. Kennedy, “Appendix II—China’s Maritime Militia: An Important Force Multiplier,” in Michael McDevitt, China as a Twenty-First-Century Naval Power: Theory, Practice, and […]

Ronald O’Rourke, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 7 October 2020).
Click here to download a cached copy.
And be sure to check out the freshly-updated Table 2 below!
Summary
In December 2016, the Navy released a force-structure goal that calls for achieving and maintaining a fleet of 355 […]

Commander Christopher Nelson, U.S. Navy, and Andrew Rhodes, “Embrace Analog Tools in a Digital Intelligence Age,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 146.10 (October 2020).

Naval Intelligence Essay Contest Winner—First Prize
Cosponsored by the Naval Institute and Naval Intelligence Professionals

Summary: The naval intelligence community must strike a balance between old tools and new technology.
Commander Nelson is the deputy […]

Manfred Meyer (edited by Larry Bond and Chris Carlson), Modern Chinese Maritime Forces (Admiralty Trilogy Group, 1 October 2020).

“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 the […]

The latest edition of the Pentagon’s China Military Power reports, released at the beginning of this month, is also the greatest since their inception twenty years ago. At 173 pages, it also the longest and most substantive. A high-water mark in public analysis from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, it begins with a self-critical […]

On the centenary of his birth (18 September 1920), I would like to offer a compilation of background research and personal perspectives on one of the space age’s pioneers, Joseph Gleason Gavin, Jr. His life and career interconnected with a bold new era that saw humans transcend their earthly bounds and set foot on another […]

David R. Stilwell, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, “Advancing U.S. Engagement and Countering China in the Indo-Pacific and Beyond,” Testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,” Washington, DC, 17 September 2020.

Chairman Risch, Ranking Member Menendez, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before the Committee to […]

Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper, Speech at RAND (As Delivered), RAND Corporation, Arlington, VA, 16 September 2020.

Well thank you for that introduction—kind introduction Michael and good morning everyone. It’s great to be here and I also want to thank Dr. Edward Harshberger for moderating today’s discussion. And I really look forward to a […]

China’s Armed Forces: 30 Years of UN Peacekeeping Operations (Beijing: The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China, September 2020).
Click here to download the full text directly from Xinhua. Or, simply read it below:

Contents
Preface
I. Embarking on Missions for World Peace
II. A Key Force in UNPKOs
III. Implementation of Pledges Announced at the UN […]

Yanzhong Huang, Toxic Politics: China’s Environmental Health Crisis and its Challenge to the Chinese State (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2020).
Summary: China’s deepening health crisis reveals the fragility of the party-state and undercuts China’s ability to project influence internationally.
Watch for further information and related events at the Council on Foreign Relations!

Book description
Environmental degradation in China has […]