Andrew S. Erickson

Scott C. Truver, “Taking Mines Seriously: Mine Warfare in China’s Near Seas,” Naval War College Review, 65.2 (Spring 2012), 30-66.
A mine is a terrible thing that waits. The easy way is always mined. Any ship can be a minesweeper—once. Sea mines and the need to counter them have been constants for the U.S. Navy since […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Cornering Commodities Markets: For China, Xstrata/Glencore deal would have larger impact than Facebook IPO,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 53 (7 February 2012).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
Facebook’s plans to go public are a headline grabber, but in terms of fundamental global economic impact, the proposed US$90 billion merger between two Zug, Switzerland-based […]

Captain Gordon A. Andrew, RAN, review of Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, eds., Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011); in Australian Defence Force Journal 186 (November/December 2011): 100-101.
Chinese Aerospace Power is the fifth book in a series jointly published by the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) and […]

“Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles,” Brief Notices, Survival 54.1 (February-March 2012): 228.
In this analysis of Chinese aerospace developments, including its aircraft-carrier programme, unmanned aerial vehicles and air-launched cruise missiles, the authors explore the strategic implications of Chinese forces for the US Navy and the military balance in East Asia more generally.
Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving […]

Click here to see all 12 of GlobalSecurity.org’s Special Selections.
Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles (CMSI Vol. 5)
Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, eds., Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011).
Japanese summary translation now available: 中国の航空宇宙パワー海洋任務への発展.
For a video introducing the volume’s contents, watch Prof. Andrew S. Erickson, Eight Bells […]

Walter Russell Mead, “Hu Jintao: A Man With A PLAN?” Via Meadia Blog, The American Interest, 24 January 2012.
… Nowhere is the dynamic relationship between the US and China more tense and more intimate than on the high seas, owing, as this WSJ article notes, to the amphibious ambitions accompanying China’s rise…. The authors highlight […]

Steve LeVine, “The Weekly Wrap — Jan. 27, 2012,” The Oil and the Glory (Blog), Foreign Policy, 27 January 2012.
… Iranian heavy crude anyone? Why don’t Russia and China go along with Western oil sanctions against Iran? One reason is that companies from both countries stand to profit handsomely once the crackdown begins, write Gabe Collins […]

Robert Cookson, “China: Digger Sales in the Ditch,” BeyondBrics Blog, Financial Times, 27 January 2012.
How worried should investors be about a slowdown in China? According to the latest GDP statistics, China’s economy expanded 8.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, confounding those who had been predicting a “hard landing” for the country.
But other […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Chinese Traders Poised to Profit From Iran Oil Embargo,” China Real Time Report (中国事实报), Wall Street Journal, 26 January 2012.
Europe’s decision to embargo Iranian oil exports is strategically sound, since a nuclear-armed Iran is in no one’s interest. Yet, policymakers are overlooking how an embargo may strategically reshape the […]

Andrew Erickson and Gabe Collins, “Domestic Politics will Buffet US-China Relations in 2012,” China-US Focus, 25 January 2012.
China and the U.S. represent each other’s single most important foreign relationship, yet also each other’s broadest array of foreign policy challenges. While interdependent, since the fall of the Soviet Union they have lacked a common external danger […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “Year of The Water Dragon: 12 Chinese Maritime Developments to Look for in 2012,” China Real Time Report (中国事实报), Wall Street Journal, 23 January 2012.
China has now entered the Year of the Dragon. According to traditional geomancy, for the first time since 1952, the year will be associated […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “China’s New Strategic Target: Arctic Minerals,” China Real Time Report (中国事实报), Wall Street Journal, 18 January 2012.
As policymakers in Washington focus on China’s expanding presence in Africa and growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean region, Danish diplomatic assistance is opening the gate for China […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “The U.S. Security Outlook in the Asia-Pacific Region,” in Security Outlook of the Asia-Pacific Countries and Its Implications for the Defense Sector, NIDS Joint Research Series 6 (Tokyo: National Institute for Defense Studies, 2011), 81-121.
Having difficulty accessing the full text of this chapter? Download a cached copy here.
The future for the U.S. and […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Digging In: Earthmover Sales Reflect Risks to China’s Economic Growth,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 52 (17 January 2012).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©

Earthmover sales are a useful economic indicator because China’s construction and fixed asset-driven economy is very heavy equipment-intensive. Also, construction machines are not a speculative asset in the way copper and […]

This article appears designed to send a strong, clear message, and merits very careful reading, analysis, and reflection. It is accompanied by a photograph of DF-21C conventional ballistic missiles, which is one type of an potent variety of long-range strike weapons that China is developing and deploying.
Thanks to Prof. Michael Chase, Naval War College, for directing me […]

No serious survey of strategic analysis on China is complete without reading Taylor’s detailed scholarly publications. His new website makes this easier to do than ever. I recommend that everyone take a look today! You might especially enjoy some of his research concerning the South China Sea.
For anyone who hasn’t met Taylor at his frequent […]

The 2011 ROC National Defense Report has confirmed that “a small quantity of” DF-21D ASBMs “were produced and deployed in 2010,” thereby (in the report’s view) “increasing the difficulty of military maneuvers in the region for the U.S. Army.”
Now a key question remains: what are the missile’s specific capabilities? Unfortunately, open sources do not yet […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “China’s 2012 Challenges,” The Diplomat, 8 January 2012.
China enters the New Year confronting challenges and opportunities that will be shaped in turn by how its government and populace respond to them. Here outlined are twelve key items and issues that will help define 2012 for China, both at […]

David C. Gompert and Phillip C. Saunders, Paradox of Power: Sino-American Strategic Restraint in an Age of Vulnerability (Washington, DC: National Defense University, December 2011).
Excerpt from the Executive Summary:
The United States and China each have or will soon have the ability to inflict grave harm upon the other by nuclear attack, attacks on satellites, or […]