CSBA Senior Fellow Evan Montgomery published a paper in the most recent issue of International Security - “Contested Primacy in the Western Pacific: China’s Rise and the Future of U.S. Power Projection”: “There is little doubt that the United States outstrips China in most indicators of military power… Nevertheless, the military balance between two nations is shaped as well by distance and terrain, which influence how much actual combat power each side can bring to bear in a particular theater, along with operational planning and force design, which determine whether and to what extent each side can identify and exploit its opponent’s vulnerabilities. These factors create a more complex picture of the military balance in East Asia and suggest that Washington’s advantage over Beijing is not nearly as large as both sides in the grand strategy debate assume.” “Beijing’s growing military power could undermine Washington’s ability to prevent local conflicts, protect longtime allies, and preserve freedom of the commons in East Asia. As a result, maintaining deep engagement and forward defense could require significant changes to U.S. military capabilities and posture, including a much greater emphasis on air and undersea platforms that can survive inside nonpermissive environments, forward bases that are better able to withstand attacks, and information networks that are less vulnerable to disruption.” For more, see: mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/ISEC_a_00160?journalCode=isec#.U4ihVpRdVF0
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 16:09:01 +0000
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