November 07, 2014
A Response to Lyle Goldstein's “How China Sees America's Moves in Asia”
In “How China Sees America's Moves in Asia,” Professor Lyle Goldstein highlights the disturbing conclusion of a recent essay by three Chinese analysts: China is under siege, pinned down by a U.S. strategy of “containment” that aims to encircle their country and undermine its security interests.
Professor Goldstein is right to point out that concerns about U.S. "containment" are pervasive in Chinese foreign policy and national-security assessments, and that this is a fear the United States cannot ignore as it strengthens its focus on Asia. Professor Goldstein's article is also an important reminder that to be successful, a strategy of deterrence requires a corresponding message of assurance. Security-studies scholars and military strategists have long recognized that deterrence and assurance are two sides of the same coin, and that some level of assurance is required to encourage a potential adversary to exercise restraint.
Yet we disagree in important ways with three aspects of Professor Goldstein's argument. First, his assessment gives far too much weight to a single assessment published in a relatively minor Chinese journal, one that appears to go well beyond more mainstream discussions among PLA and foreign-policy specialists about the challenges associated with what many in China view as U.S. “containment.”
Read the full article at The Rand Blog.
More from CNAS
-
Time for Congress to Establish a U.S. Digital Development Fund
Commentary
As impeachment deliberations roil Washington, Congress will be tempted to look inward and dial back on efforts to address the challenge China poses to American security, prosp...
By Daniel Kliman
-
Why the United States Needs a Digital Development Fund
Commentary
What the executive branch and Congress can do to counter China’s expanding digital footprint across the developing world....
By Daniel Kliman
-
Coming Soon to the United Nations: Chinese Leadership and Authoritarian Values
Commentary
In a new essay for Foreign Affairs, Kristine Lee discusses global concerns behind Beijing's changing approach to international organizations....
By Kristine Lee
-
Great-Power Competition Is Washington’s Top Priority—But Not the Public’s
Commentary
For all the acrimony in Washington today, the city’s foreign policy establishment is settling on a rare bipartisan consensus: that the world has entered a new era of great-pow...
By Richard Fontaine
