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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.

04 September 2012

Strategic Studies Quarterly Reviews “Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles”

Capt. Paul A. Stempel, USAF, review of Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, eds., Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011); Strategic Studies Quarterly 6.3 (Fall 2012): 149-51.
Andrew Erickson and Lyle Goldstein, two prominent China scholars at the Naval War College, fill an important interdisciplinary niche with this book by bringing together […]

31 August 2012

Latest Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report—Ronald O’Rourke, “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress”

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 10 August 2012), RL33153, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf.
Summary
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The question is of particular importance to […]

31 August 2012

Strategic Asia 2012-13: China’s Military Challenge Book Launch Event

Ashley J. Tellis and Travis Tanner, eds., Strategic Asia 2012–13: China’s Military Modernization, Regional Stability, and U.S. Extended Deterrence (Seattle, WA: National Bureau for Asian Research, 2012).
On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars for the National Bureau of Asian Research will launch of […]

31 August 2012

Cultivating Tomorrow’s Asia Hands

This spot-on analysis by the influential Eric Sayers is a must-read for policy makers and aspiring Asia hands alike!
Eric Sayers, “Cultivating Tomorrow’s Asia Hands,” PacNet 54A, 30 August 2012.
Discussions about the US “rebalancing” to the Asia-Pacific region have focused on the rhetoric and resources surrounding the effort. But after more than a decade of America’s […]

29 August 2012

China’s Real Blue Water Navy

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “China’s Real Blue Water Navy,” The Diplomat, 30 August 2012.
China’s navy is not poised to speed across the Pacific to threaten America the way the Soviet Union once did, if not worse. This despite Peter Navarro and Greg Autry’s over-the-top polemic, Death by China: Confronting the Dragon—A Global […]

29 August 2012

China and the Emerging Strategic Competition in Aerospace Power

Mark Stokes and Ian Easton, “China and the Emerging Strategic Competition in Aerospace Power,” in Henry D. Sokolski, ed., The Next Arms Race (Carlisle, PA: Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, 2012), 141-75.
Competition is emerging over efforts to secure ac­cess to and control of the air and space mediums in the Asia-Pacific region. This competition […]

29 August 2012

Thomas Mahnken’s Conclusion to “Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century: Theory, History, and Practice”

Thomas G. Mahnken, “Conclusion,” in Thomas Mahnken, ed., Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century: Theory, History, and Practice (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012), 301-05.
Click here for additional information on this edited volume.
This volume has sought to stimulate interest in formulating and implementing long-term strategies for defending U.S. interests in the face of growing Chinese military power. Its […]

29 August 2012

China’s Strategic Forces in the 21st Century: The People’s Liberation Army’s Changing Nuclear Doctrine and Force Posture

Michael Mazza and Dan Blumenthal, “China’s Strategic Forces in the 21st Century: The People’s Liberation Army’s Changing Nuclear Doctrine and Force Posture,” in Henry D. Sokolski, ed., The Next Arms Race (Carlisle, PA: Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, 2012), 83-109.
When it comes to its development and deployment of nuclear weapons—China first tested a weapon […]

29 August 2012

The State of the U.S.-China Competition

James R. Holmes, “The State of the U.S.-China Competition,” in Thomas Mahnken, ed., Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century: Theory, History, and Practice (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012), 131-46.
Click here for additional information on this edited volume.
The U.S.-China strategic competition is a curious one in that it only one party, China, has competed in earnest since the contest’s […]

29 August 2012

Changing the Rules of the Game: The Commercial Aircraft Industry in China

Marc Szepan, “Changing the Rules of the Game: The Commercial Aircraft Industry in China,” Harvard Asia Quarterly, 14.1/2 (Spring/Summer 2012): 112-22.
An absolute must-read from a true expert on the subject!
Article posted with kind permission of the Harvard Asia Quarterly.
The present article explores innovation and imitation in the context of the commercial aircraft industry in China […]

28 August 2012

Asia’s New Arms Race: Missiles, Missile Defenses

Trefor Moss, “Asia’s New Arms Race: Missiles, Missile Defenses,” The Diplomat, 27 August 2012.
… There may or may not be an arms race in Asia, depending on your view of what an arms race involves. But in the realm of ballistic missiles and ballistic missile defense it is hard not to conclude that a race is being run. […]

24 August 2012

China’s Ballistic Missiles: A Force to be Reckoned With

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “China’s Ballistic Missiles: A Force to be Reckoned With,” China Real Time Report (中国事实报), Wall Street Journal, 24 August 2012.
China dislikes U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) developments, existing and potential. Ballistic missiles have long represented one of China’s greatest military strengths, and it does not want them, or the nuclear […]

24 August 2012

China’s Maritime Salient: Competitive Strategies on the Oceanic Front for the 21st Century

Paul S. Giarra, “China’s Maritime Salient: Competitive Strategies on the Oceanic Front for the 21st Century,” in Thomas Mahnken, ed., Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century: Theory, History, and Practice (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012), 275-88.
Click here for additional information on this edited volume.
China’s emergence will continue to disrupt the established world order and challenge American national interests. To […]

23 August 2012

Japan’s Competitive Strategies at Sea: A Preliminary Assessment

Toshi Yoshihara, “Japan’s Competitive Strategies at Sea: A Preliminary Assessment,” in Thomas Mahnken, ed., Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century: Theory, History, and Practice (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012), 219-35.
Click here for additional information on this edited volume.
China’s growing capacity to disrupt the maritime order in Asia and the associated operational dilemmas that U.S. forces are likely to encounter in […]

22 August 2012

Asia in the Balance: Transforming U.S. Military Strategy in Asia

Thomas G. Mahnken, with Thomas Donnelly, Dan Blumenthal, Gary J. Schmitt, Michael Mazza, and Andrew Shearer, Asia in the Balance: Transforming U.S. Military Strategy in Asia (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 4 June 2012).
Since the end of World War II, the United States has developed a characteristic approach to protecting its interests in Asia. In peace and in war, the […]

22 August 2012

Developing a Strategy for Long-term Sino-American Competition

James P. Thomas and Evan Braden Montgomery, “Developing a Strategy for Long-term Sino-American Competition,” in Thomas Mahnken, ed., Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century: Theory, History, and Practice (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012), 257-74.
Click here for additional information on this edited volume.
A sound competitive strategy should have three characteristics. First, it should adopt a long-term perspective, looking ahead several […]

21 August 2012

Cultural Barriers to Implementing a Competitive Strategy

James R. FitzSimonds, “Cultural Barriers to Implementing a Competitive Strategy,” in Thomas Mahnken, ed., Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century: Theory, History, and Practice (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012), 289-300.
Click here for additional information on this edited volume.
China’s ongoing military build-up has generated interest within the U.S. strategic community for employing a competitive strategies approach to manage a growing […]

21 August 2012

Steady as She Goes: Aircraft Appear Aboard China’s Varyag

Greg Waldron, “Steady as She Goes: Aircraft Appear Aboard China’s Varyag,” Asian Skies: Keeping an Eye on Asia, Flight Global, 15 August 2012.
… I’m reading a fascinating book called China Aerospace Power: Emerging Maritime Roles. It is a compilation of essays about the role of Chinese airpower in China’s oceanic frontier.  One of the writers (his name […]

21 August 2012

China SignPost™ (洞察中国) #63: “North-Central China Offers Massive Market Opportunity for Mongolian Coal Miners”

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “North-Central China Offers Massive Market Opportunity for Mongolian Coal Miners,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 63 (21 August 2012).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
Mongolia’s massive and low-cost coal reserves are well-positioned to serve seven nearby Chinese provinces with more than one billion tonnes of annual coal demand
On 7 June 2012, Mongolian […]