Andrew S. Erickson

Capt. Gary J. Sampson, USMC, “American Perceptions of China’s Anti-Access and Area-Denial Capabilities: Implications for U.S. Military Operations in the Western Pacific,” M.A. Thesis, National Sun Yat-sen University, June 2011.
The post-Cold War world has created a number of important new challenges to the United States’ power projection capabilities. The worldwide network of bases and stations […]

Wise words from one of America’s foremost maritime leaders. Senate ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is long overdue!
Adm. Bob Papp, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, “Benefits of Joining the Law of the Sea Convention,” The Hill, 19 April 2012.
My fictional hero, Capt. Jack Aubrey, of Patrick O’Brian’s “Master and Commander” series […]

“Photo Essay: The U.S. Pivot and China Relations,” The Diplomat, 20 April 2012.
Last week, The Diplomat co-hosted with Harvard University a panel of leading analysts on U.S.-China relations. Following are some of the highlights from the discussion.
Speaking at the event were U.S. Congressman J. Randy Forbes, who is chairman of the House Armed Services Readiness […]

Mandatory reading for all concerned observers of Sino-American relations!
Kenneth Lieberthal and Wang Jisi, Addressing U.S.-China Strategic Distrust, John L. Thornton China Center Monograph 4 (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, March 2012).
The coauthors of this path-breaking study—one of America’s leading China specialists and one of China’s leading America specialists—lay out both the underlying concerns each leadership harbors […]

Wendell Minnick, “China’s 10 Killer Weapons: Comprehensive Strategy Targets U.S. Presence in Asia-Pacific,” Defense News, 9 April 2012.
China is developing 10 killer applications designed to degrade, depress and destroy any U.S. military campaign or mission in the greater China region, including the South China Sea and Taiwan, according to experts here and in Washington.
These 10 […]

Lyle Goldstein, “Chinese Naval Strategy in the South China Sea: An Abundance of Noise and Smoke, but Little Fire,” Journal of Contemporary Southeast Asia 33.3 (2011): 320-47.
This survey of official and quasi-official Chinese-language naval literature provides some new insights regarding Beijing’s evolving strategy in the South China Sea. Most importantly — and contrary to conventional […]

John F. Bradford, “The Maritime Strategy of the United States: Implications for Indo-Pacific Sea Lanes,” Journal of Contemporary Southeast Asia 33.2 (2011): 183–208.
The maintenance of safe and secure sea lanes, particularly those that link the United States with its partners in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is at the very core of US interests. Therefore, […]

“China, Seeking a Voice in Arctic Affairs, Says it Has Swedish Support for Arctic Council Role,” Washington Post, 16 April 2012.
China has the support of Sweden to become a permanent observer at the eight-member Arctic Council, part of Beijing’s plan to seek a more active role in the region, a deputy Chinese foreign minister said […]

“China [Economy],” Ups and Downs, Monocle 52.6 (April 2012): 54.
For years economists have argued over whether China’s economy is headed for a soft or a hard landing. With Chinese officials themselves reportedly admitting that GDP figures are “manmade,” everything from sky-rocketing Lamborghini sales to tens of millions of empty luxury apartments has been called up […]

On 16 April 2012, Zheng He left Dalian on the first single-ship global circumnavigation by a Chinese training vessel. This latest “first” for China’s Navy is part of a larger pattern in which it has projected power increasingly beyond the “Near Seas” (Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea) in the form of well-publicized peacetime […]

“AMERICA’S PIVOT TO THE PACIFIC”–U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS IN 2012
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With the United States winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Barack Obama has indicated his administration’s intention to refocus the country’s diplomatic and military efforts on the […]

Alexandre Sheldon-Duplaix; review of Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, eds., Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011); in Marine Technology (April 2012): 86-87.
This book presents 27 papers from the fourth annual conference on China’s naval developments organized by the United States Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute […]

Amy Chang, primary author; John Dotson, editor and contributing author; Indigenous Weapons Development in China’s Military Modernization, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Staff Research Report (Washington, DC: USCC, 5 April 2012).
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by Congress to report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic […]

Capt. Carl Otis Schuster, U.S. Navy (Ret.), “China’s Navy on the Horizon,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, 138.4 (April 2012).
China’s official acknowledgment of its first aircraft carrier’s sea trials triggered ongoing speculation in the media about its significance. Some reports assert that the ship is named Shi Lang, after the Manchu admiral who conquered Taiwan, but […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Amy Chang, “China’s Navigation in Space: What New Approaches will China’s Space Tracking Take?” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, 138.4 (April 2012): 42-47.
The People’s Republic of China’s “Long View” space-tracking and telemetry system enhances space situational awareness and operations while offering military potential. Yet this sea-based approach suffers from inherent dependencies and […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 23 March 2012), RL33153.
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 […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Tilling Foreign Soil: New Farmland Ownership Laws Force Chinese Agriculture Investors to Shift Strategies in Argentina and Brazil,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 57 (28 March 2012).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
Chinese consumers’ growing appetite for meat is driving increased grain imports, which is great news for corn and soybean growers in Argentina and […]

Ashley Townshend and Shashank Joshi, “Troubled Waters: the Implications of China’s First Aircraft Carrier,” Commentary, Royal United Services Institute, 16 August 2011.
Far from transforming Asia’s naval balance, the launch of China’s first aircraft carrier will only begin to expose China to the rigours of modern naval warfare. The region should respond to the strategic ripples […]

John Reed, “China’s Anti Access Future is Here,” Defense Tech, 27 March 2012.
China may already be able to hold U.S. forces in the far western Pacific Ocean at [risk], argues DT’s go to China expert and Naval War College professor Andrew Erickson in one of his latest analysis pieces.
While China can’t yet project serious military […]