Andrew S. Erickson

Aki Nakai, “China’s Naval Modernization: Reflections on a Symposium,” Boston University Center for the Study of Asia, Occasional Paper on Asia 1 (February 2011).
The “rise of China” is on everyone’s lips these days, with the conversation being driven both by China’s rapid economic development and its military modernization. On November 9, 2010, the Boston University […]

Nathaniel Barber, Kieran Coe, Victoria Steffes, and Jennifer Winter, China in the Indian Ocean: Impacts, Prospects, Opportunities, Prepared for U.S. government’s Office of South Asia Policy (Madison, WI: Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011).
Mainland China has increased its activities in the Indian Ocean region by investing in local states, building […]

Toshi Yoshihara & James R. Holmes, “Can China Defend a ‘Core Interest’ in the South China Sea?” The Washington Quarterly 34.2 (2011): 45-59.
Déjà vu surrounds reports that Beijing has claimed a ‘‘core interest’’ in the South China Sea. High-ranking Chinese officials reportedly asserted such an interest during a private March 2010 meeting with two visiting […]

Avery Goldstein, “Crisis Instability and US-China Relations: The Present (If Not Clear) Danger,” paper presented at American Political Science Association 2011 Annual Meeting.
Two concerns have driven much of the debate about international security in the post Cold War era. The principal concern has been the potentially deadly mix of nuclear proliferation, rogue states, and international […]

Andrew B. Kennedy, “China’s Petroleum Predicament: Challenges and Opportunities in Beijing’s Search for Energy Security,” in Jane Golley and Ligang Song, eds., Rising China: Global Challenges and Opportunities (Canberra and Beijing: Australian National University and Social Sciences Academic Press, 2011), 121-136.
If China’s rise is one of the most important stories of this new century, China’s […]

Jeff Franks, “Chinese Navy Hospital Ship Visits Cuba, Caribbean,” Reuters, 22 October 2011.
HAVANA (Reuters) – A Chinese navy hospital ship called the Peace Ark sailed on Friday into Havana Bay in Cuba, reflecting good relations between the communist allies and China’s expanding global presence.
The 580-foot (178 meters) ship was met by Cuban naval officials in […]

Bert Chapman, Geopolitics: A Guide to the Issues (Contemporary Military, Strategic, and Security Issues) (New York: Praeger, 2011).
“Current Geopolitical Scholars”
“A number of scholars representing classical and critical geopolitical perspectives are influencing this discipline’s research and analysis while representing disciplinary fields such as geography, history, international economics, military science, and political science.”
Scholars profiled include Thomas P.M. […]

Adam Segal, Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011).
As the United States struggles to emerge from recession, India and China’s continued robust growth is the subject of much interest and concern. In his new book, Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge, Council […]

Brantly Womack, ed., China’s Rise in Historical Perspective (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010).
“Stimulating and elegant. This unique book purposefully blends insightful historical analyses and strong present-day commentaries, placing core elements of the phenomenon of contemporary China into very meaningful contexts. This welcome and long-overdue approach will assist a broad readership that seeks to understand both where […]

Bhumitra Chakma, The Politics of Nuclear Weapons in South Asia (London: Ashgate, 2011).
An important and critical re-evaluation of South Asia’s post-tests nuclear politics, in contrast to other books, this volume emphasises the political dimension of South Asia’s nuclear weapons, explains how the bombs are used as politico-strategic assets rather than pure battlefield weapons and how […]

Michael E. O’Hanlon, A Skeptic’s Case for Nuclear Disarmament (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2010).
In 2007 two former U.S. secretaries of state, a defense secretary, and a former senator wrote persuasively in the Wall Street Journal that the time had come to move seriously toward a nuclear-free world. Almost two years later, the Global Zero […]

Michael Yahuda, The International Politics of the Asia Pacific: Third and Revised Edition (Politics in Asia) (New York: Routledge, 2011).
This fully revised third edition of Michael Yahuda’s extremely successful textbook brings the region fully up-to-date, introducing students to the international politics of the Asia-Pacific region since 1945, assessing the post-cold War uncertainties that challenged balance […]

Martin N. Murphy, Somalia: The New Barbary?: Piracy and Islam in the Horn of Africa (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).
Somali piracy is repeatedly associated with the historical specter of barbary. The world now fears Somalia has taken on its mantle by becoming a safe haven for terrorists wishing to wreak havoc on civilized societies. […]

Roy Kamphausen, Andrew Scobell, and Travis Tanner, eds., The “People” in the PLA: Recruitment, Training, and Education in China’s Military (Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College and National Bureau of Asian Research, 2008).
This volume represents the latest in the series published by the Strategic Studies Institute and describes the advances and reforms the PLA has […]

Andrew O’Neill, Nuclear Proliferation in Northeast Asia: The Quest for Security (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
The core principle underlying the strategy of nonproliferation – acceptance of a two tier international nuclear order – has become unsustainable. Policy makers and those in the academic world need to turn their attention to exploring new proliferation management strategies […]

Bradley Perrett, “China Expands its Military Reach,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 14 October 2011.
How far is China’s military reach? The answer depends on what it wants to do. A Chinese warship deployed to the Mediterranean this year, so, by that yardstick, global reach is at hand. But the isolated ship only supported civilian evacuations […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Transparency is Not Just for the Military: Improved Commodity Data Reporting from China Good for Chinese and Global Consumers Alike,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 48 (14 October 2011).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
Just last week, the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association estimated the country’s copper reserves at year-end 2010 to have been […]

/luce.nt/ was established in 2010 as a forum to advance thinking and to promote dialogue in an online symposium for policy makers, scholars, and practitioners within the international security community “on all questions relating to war and to statesmanship connected with war, or the prevention of war.” The thoughts and opinions expressed in this online […]

With the generosity of the Stanton Foundation, the MIT Security Studies Program is starting a new Nuclear Security Fellows Program for junior faculty as well as pre-doctoral and post-doctoral scholars. Nuclear security is defined broadly to include nuclear terrorism, nuclear proliferation and nonproliferation, nuclear weapons, nuclear doctrine and force structure, and nuclear energy as it […]