In a change from the past, the government of the Republic of Korea now emphasizes communication with domestic as well as external audiences. However, practices during past military authoritarian regimes have left a lasting, negative impression on the public. As a result, the...

Confrontations between China and other rival claimants in the South China Sea have gained increasing prominence in regional and international media, most recently during a 2012 standoff between Manila and Beijing over sovereignty of the Scarborough Shoals. The potential for...

This policy brief puts forward an analytical framework to capture the nature, dimensions, and spectrum of innovation in the military and broader defense spheres. Insights are drawn from a range of disciplines, including history, social science, business, and strategic studies. The...

The United States is in the early stages of a debate over the size of the U.S. defense budget. That debate also reflects differing assessments of the nature of the international environment and the risks that the United States faces. One school of thought, which I have dubbed the New...

This policy brief examines the rejuvenation, current state, and future prospects of the Chinese defense economy. Fifteen years of reforms have turned this once lumbering holdout of autarkic central planning into an aspiring champion of technological innovation. Critical factors...

What is military innovation? How should we think about Chinese military innovation? By developing an analytical framework that captures both the components of military innovation (technology, doctrine, and organization) and the continuum of change, we can better assess the nature, extent, and...

This brief examines the capacity of China to challenge America as a technology innovator. It assumes that the balance of innovation capacity matters for strategic strength in the long haul. Absent a fuller analysis of this assumption, this brief makes some ad hoc observations about...

This brief summarizes key trends and findings of two recent reports by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Despite the global financial crisis that began in 2008, research by CSIS has shown that many Asian countries experienced relatively low fiscal distress...

While the U.S. Navy previously enjoyed more or less unfettered access to operate in the South China, East China, and Philippine Seas, new Chinese capabilities are likely to make these areas “contested zones.†Newly acquired or produced weapons systems could make life very...

Structural change in the international order will have the greatest effect in East Asia with the ascendancy of China as a world economic power. A two-pillar post- Cold War policy of “shaping†China into a model country while “hedging†against its potential as a...