Recent Publications

Playing Both Sides of the U.S.-Chinese Rivalry
May 29, 2024 — Why Countries Get External Security from Washington—and Internal Security from BeijingOn a visit to Budapest in late February, China’s minister of public security, Wang Xiaohong, secured a face-to-face meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to establish a new bilateral security arrangement. China and Hungary agreed to cooperate on law... MORE

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China Center Director Series – Marine Corps University
May 28, 2024 — Episode 5 of CLSC Dialogues features Daniel Rice, the China political and military strategy subject matter expert at Marine Corps University. In this episode, he explains how Marine Corps University and its Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare contribute to the community of interest... MORE

China Center Director Series – China Aerospace Studies Institute
May 27, 2024 — Episode 4 features Dr. Brendan Mulvaney is the director of the department of the Air Force's China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI). In this episode, Mulvaney introduces CASI, its mission, researchers, product lines, and more. The organization is the Department of Air Force’s premiere center for the study of China and its aerospace capabilities... MORE

China Center Director Series – China Landpower Studies Center
May 20, 2024 — In episode 3 of CLSC Dialogues, COL Rich Butler, director of the China Landpower Studies Center (CLSC) in the Strategic Studies Institute at the US Army War College, discusses the scope and mission of the CLSC and introduces its researchers and 2024 conference theme. The CLSC stood up in January 2024 to tackle questions about China’s emergence as a global power and its implications for the US military... MORE

China’s Use of Nontraditional Strategic Landpower in Asia
May 9, 2024 — This article argues that the People’s Republic of China uses its police and internal security forces as a nontraditional means of projecting strategic Landpower in the Indo-Pacific and Central Asia. Instead of limiting analysis of China’s power projection to military forces, this article employs new data on Chinese police engagements abroad to fill a gap in our understanding of the operating environment in Asia. Policymakers will gain an understanding of how these activities enhance China’s presence, partnerships, and influence across the region to inform the development of recommendations for a more effective response. ... MORE

The Role and Impact of US Army Pacific in the Indo-Pacific Region
April 24, 2024 — In the second episode of CLSC Dialogues: Landpower in the Indo-Pacific, General Charles A. Flynn, commander of US Army Pacific and Colonel Rich Butler, director of the China Landpower Studies Center, discuss the role and impact of the US Army in the Indo-Pacific... MORE

Deterrence Gap: Avoiding War in the Taiwan Strait (Part 2)
April 24, 2024 — The likelihood China will attack Taiwan in the next decade is high and will continue to be so, unless Taipei and Washington take urgent steps to restore deterrence across the Taiwan Strait. This monograph introduces the concept of interlocking deterrents, explains why deterrents lose their potency with the passage of time, and provides concrete recommendations ... MORE

Decisive Decade: PRC Global Strategy and the PLA as a Pacing Challenge – 2023 PLA Conference – Updated and Expanded
April 17, 2024 — The US Army War College’s 2023 Conference on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was held February 22 to 24, 2023, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The conference, entitled “Decisive Decade: PRC Global Strategy and the PLA as Pacing Challenge,” featured presentations on PRC global and regional strategy, and the PLA’s enabling role by experts from a wide range of academic, media, and government agencies and organizations... MORE

War with China: A View from Early 2024
April 11, 2024 — US defense analysts are overdue for a fundamental reassessment of the strategic factors that would shape a future Sino-American war. The United States may lower the overall risk of sparking a war between Washington and Beijing by more formally committing advanced US capabilities in intelligence collection and targeting, long-range fires, and theater air and missile defense to Japan and South Korea and by initiating bilateral planning to introduce such capabilities in Taiwan in the future. The US defense community still lacks a broad and integrated national strategy for successfully managing the rivalry with China. A clear-eyed assessment of a possible United States-China war could lead to a national strategy... MORE

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Deterrence Gap: Avoiding War in the Taiwan Strait - Part 1
April 11, 2024 — The likelihood China will attack Taiwan in the next decade is high and will continue to be so, unless Taipei and Washington take urgent steps to restore deterrence across the Taiwan Strait. This monograph introduces the concept of interlocking deterrents, explains why deterrents lose their potency with the passage of time, and provides concrete recommendations for how Taiwan... MORE

A Baseline Assessment of the PLA Army's Border Reinforcement Operations in the Aksai Chin in 2020 and 2021
April 9, 2024 — This report analyzes the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) border reinforcement operation throughout the Aksai Chin and adjacent areas from summer 2020 to early 2021. It is based largely on analysis of Google Earth imagery and provides a baseline for further analysis of the PLA deployment along the entire Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Aksai Chin. Chinese Army units appear ready to remain in a defensive posture near the LAC the Aksai Chin indefinitely. ... MORE

“Toward a Strategic Art for Sanctions”
April 2, 2024 — New strategic art is required to maneuver political economies to meet the demands of future engagements and campaigns. Current discussions of the projection of political-economic power are typically abstract, high-level, and policy-focused or present singular tactical actions as strategic actions, creating a gap for campaign practitioners. This article addresses the gap by drawing on Joint Planning, Joint Publication 5-0, and Joint Campaigns and Operations, Joint Publication 3-0, to further develop the concept and methodologies first introduced in the author’s earlier article “Multidimensionality: Rethinking Power Projection for the 21st Century.” ... MORE