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skitch41's review
3.0
As China continues its upward climb towards economic parity with the United States, its defense budget and capabilities have been growing as well. So what does that mean for U.S. strategy in the Pacific? In this short study of the problem, Mr. Friedberg gives an overview of where China has been growing in its capabilities since the early 1990s, what the U.S. has been doing in response, and the two strategic approaches China could take if conflict were to break out between the United States and China. In it, Mr. Friedberg notes that China has been concentrating particularly on anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities, or the defenses that China could use to prevent the U.S. from landing a potentially devastating first blow on targets on the Chinese mainland or other possibilities. He also notes that the U.S. has been particularly slow to recognize the potential threat to U.S. hegemony Chinese defense innovations could become over time. He then splits his analysis on the strategic options available to the U.S. into two different categories: a direct approach and an indirect approach. The direct approach would include bolstering U.S. capabilities in certain areas to counteract China's A2/AD capabilities and attack key targets on the mainland. The indirect approach would include such strategies as a distant blockade, which would include a blockade of the Straits of Malacca. The analysis is thorough, but like any report coming out of a think tank, it can be really, REALLY, dry reading. This book makes up for that by being short (approximately 150 pages) with rather large letters. Thus, it may be a dry read, but it is a quick read. Still, I would recommend this only to serious political and military scientists and strategic thinkers.
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