Strategic Studies Quarterly

Volume 07 Issue 4 - Winter 2013

  • Published
  • Strategic Studies Quarterly, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL
Commentary


China's Nuclear Weapons and the Prospects for Multilateral Arms Control

Lt Gen Frank G. Klotz, USAF Retired and Oliver Bloom

The prospect of formal discussions with China on strategic stability and nuclear arms control will remain a distant prospect regardless of what US and Russian officials may ultimately desire. China’s secretive approach is a huge obstacle to meaningful talks.

Convergent Technologies and Future Strategic Security Threats
Robert McCreight

The chief challenge of the twenty-first century is whether advanced technologies and breakthroughs in science will be largely benign or spawn entire groups of sinister future weapons and will future advanced weapons technologies remain in the hands of peaceful nations.

FEATURE ARTICLE


China-US Relations: Moving Toward Greater Cooperation or Conflict
Adam Lowther, John Geis, Panayotis Yannakogeorgos, and Chad Dacus

One must understand the basic tenets of Chinese strategic culture before attempting to interpret Chinese actions and long-term ambitions. Once China’s strategic culture is understood, three variables—economic activity, activity in cyberspace, and developments in military technology—offer observers a sense of whether China is moving in the direction of cooperation or conflict.

PERSPECTIVES

Reforming Defense: Lessons for Arab Republics
Zoltan Barany

Democratic civil-military relations and defense reform for democratic states are important not just to set high standards, but also to be able to measure progress even if those standards may not be soon achieved by transitioning countries in the Middle East or elsewhere. Presented here is an ideal type of civil-military relations reform without illusions concerning the state of Arab polities.

Terrorism in China: Growing Threats with Global Implications
Philip B. K. Potter

Chinese policymakers have had notable success limiting both the volume and effectiveness of terrorist attacks on their own soil, but this relatively calm state of affairs is under increasing pressure and is rapidly changing…recent incidents suggest we may be entering a new, more volatile, phase…. from the US perspective there are potential upsides.

The Future of US Deterrence in East Asia: Are Conventional Land-Based IRBMs a Silver Bullet?
David W. Kearn Jr

China’s missiles now threaten key US bases, hold US naval forces in the region at risk, and pose a clear challenge for US policymakers. US experts have proposed deploying conventional land-based IRBMs in the region to offset this growing Chinese advantage and deter China from future aggression.

Demystifying Conventional Deterrence: Great Power Conflict and East Asian Peace
Jonathan F. Solomon

China’s rapidly improving regional military clout, the erosion of US military power, and the increasing friction between US and Chinese interests in East Asia highlight how critical it is that US strategists revisit conventional deterrence principles. A grand strategy decoupled from those principles risks a ruinous Sino-US war.

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