Domestic strategic preferences among state elites to prioritize economic and technological facets of national security have played a significant role in shaping the foreign policies of many Asian nations. This paper considers the role that elite preferences for economic and...

Over the last decade or more, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has sought to establish an effective defense high-tech innovation system. The Science and Technology Committee (STC) under the General Armaments Department (GAD) has been a leading institution in this reform...

This brief examines the issue of transparency during and after the period of political dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) which ruled with only a brief nine-month interruption from 1955–2009. It highlights two related but analytically separate dimensions...

After more than a decade of diplomacy designed to reassure the United States and Asian neighbors that it wasn’t a threat, Chinese foreign policy has turned more confrontational. The Chinese government and Communist Party make decisions by consensus, which theoretically should...

How has China achieved its spectacular economic growth under reform, despite having no commercial law, no financial market, prices that are only partially freed, and no privatization? I argue that the fundamental reasons for China’s success are not unique to China. China succeeded because...

China’s recent assertiveness in the South China Seas is a harbinger of things to come. Beijing’s seapower project and the enormous resources it has enjoyed have opened up new strategic vistas for Chinese leaders and military commanders. With larger and more capable...

China is developing a defense innovation system (DIS) as part of a broader effort to construct a national innovation system (NIS) that incorporates a system-of-systems approach. Modeled on China’s commercial-sector economic development zones and investment strategies, the DIS...

Contrary to popular perceptions of China as either “technology thief†or “technology superpower,†the success of the Chinese defense electronics sector can be attributed to a combination of indigenous innovation, adaptation of foreign technology, and large-scale technology...

In this policy paper, two leading authorities on the topic--one Japanese and one American--take a look at the rise of regional multilateralism in Asia. Akiko Fukushima’s monograph provides a rich historical background on Japan’s periodic flirtation with multilateralism, including...

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is improving its ability to research, develop, and field innovative military capabilities and advanced weapon systems. Perhaps more than other sectors of its defense industrial complex, the Chinese space and missile industry is the most...