Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Thomas G. Mahnken is Jerome E. Levy Chair of Economic Geography and National Security at the U.S. Naval War College and a Visiting Scholar at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Thomas G. Mahnken is Jerome E. Levy Chair of Economic Geography and National Security at the U.S. Naval War College and a Visiting Scholar at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

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Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century

Stanford University Press

Contents

Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................................................................ixAbbreviations........................................................................................................................................................................xiContributors.........................................................................................................................................................................xv1 Thinking about Competitive Strategies Thomas G. Mahnken...........................................................................................................................32 Competitive Strategies: Theoretical Foundations, Limits, and Extensions Stephen Peter Rosen.......................................................................................123 Strategic Interaction: Theory and History for Practitioners Bradford A. Lee.......................................................................................................284 Barriers to Acting Strategically: Why Strategy Is So Difficult Barry D. Watts.....................................................................................................475 U.S. Competitive Strategy during the Cold War Gordon S. Barrass...................................................................................................................716 Overview of the Competitive Strategies Initiative Daniel I. Gouré............................................................................................................907 Soviet Military Thought and the U.S. Competitive Strategies Initiative John A. Battilega..........................................................................................1068 The State of the U.S.-China Competition James R. Holmes...........................................................................................................................1319 China's Approach to Strategy and Long-Term Competition Jacqueline Newmyer Deal....................................................................................................14710 The Power Projection Balance in Asia Dan Blumenthal..............................................................................................................................16811 Assessing the Undersea Balance between the United States and China Owen R. Coté Jr..........................................................................................18412 A Competitive Strategy with Chinese Characteristics? The Second Artillery's Growing Conventional Forces and Missions Michael S. Chase and Andrew S. Erickson.....................20613 Japan's Competitive Strategies at Sea: A Preliminary Assessment Toshi Yoshihara..................................................................................................21914 Strategic Competition in the Western Pacific: An Australian Perspective Ross Babbage.............................................................................................23615 Developing a Strategy for a Long-Term Sino-American Competition James P. Thomas and Evan Braden Montgomery......................................................................25716 China's Maritime Salient: Competitive Strategies on the Oceanic Front for the 21st Century Paul S. Giarra........................................................................27517 Cultural Barriers to Implementing a Competitive Strategy James R. FitzSimonds....................................................................................................289Conclusion Thomas G. Mahnken........................................................................................................................................................301Index................................................................................................................................................................................307

Chapter One

Thomas G. Mahnken

THE UNITED STATES today faces the most complex and challenging security environment in recent memory even as it must deal with growing constraints on its ability to respond to threats. Three challenges in particular are likely to influence U.S. national security in coming years. The first is the ongoing war with Al Qaeda and its affiliates: a protracted conflict that spans the globe with irregular adversaries using unconventional means. The second is the threat that nuclear-armed hostile regimes, such as North Korea and prospectively Iran, pose to U.S. allies and the stability of key regions. The third, and most consequential, challenge is the rise of China. Chinese military modernization promises to reshape the balance of power in Asia in ways inimical the United States and its interests. China may be able not only to deny the United States access to areas of vital national interest but also to undermine the alliances that have served as the foundation of regional stability for over half a century.

Although each of these challenges is very different, meeting each successfully will require the United States to formulate and implement a comprehensive long-term strategy. With the possible exception of the threat posed by the regime in P'yongyang, these challenges will likely remain defining features of the security environment for decades. Further, each demands a comprehensive response. Military power has a role to play, to be sure, but so too do other instruments of statecraft. The United States possesses a broad array of political, diplomatic, and economic tools that it has yet to fully bring to bear in dealing with these challenges. Nor should the United States meet these challenges alone. America's allies can and should play an important role as well.

Although it is axiomatic that states formulate and implement strategy with finite resources, the United States will face increasing constraints in coming years. For reasons of domestic politics as much as economics, resources for, and attention to, national security will likely be limited in coming years. These constraints make it increasingly clear that the United States can no longer seek to reduce risk merely by throwing money at the problem. Similarly, it cannot afford to simply do more of the same. Rather, U.S. leaders need to develop a well-thought-out strategy for competing over the long term. Specifically, the United States needs to clarify and prioritize its goals, conduct a net assessment of enduring U.S. strengths and weaknesses, and formulate and implement a strategy to leverage American competitive advantages against the range of competitors. Indeed, only by adopting such a strategy can the United States hope to achieve its objectives.

This volume emphasizes the need for a long-term strategic approach to the Sino-American competition. The chapters that follow acknowledge that formulating and implementing such a strategy is difficult for a variety of reasons, but they also demonstrate that such an approach is feasible because it has been done before, most recently during the period of U.S.-Soviet competition during the Cold War.

At least since World War II, the United States has pursued a consistent set of objectives in Asia. These include defending U.S. territory, including the continental United States, Hawaii,...