July 21, 2020
China's military capabilities are gaining on the U.S. The Pentagon needs to take bold steps.
The next U.S. administration will face an increasingly emboldened and aggressive China — one that has shown a growing willingness to use coercive measures to stake its territorial claims from the South China Sea to Taiwan to the Indian border region. Although neither Washington nor Beijing wants a war, there is a real risk that miscalculation could cause a crisis to spiral into a conflict between these two nuclear-armed powers.
Few U.S. national security challenges are of greater consequence and urgency than preventing conflict with China and promoting a peaceful Asia-Pacific region.
To prevent conflict, the United States must maintain the military capability to deter China by demonstrating the ability to deny the success of such aggression or impose costs so high that Beijing steps back from the brink. The problem is this: If the Pentagon's own reported war games and analysis are to be believed, the current force may well be insufficient to deter or defeat Chinese aggression in the future.
Read the full article in NBC News.
More from CNAS
-
Sharpening the U.S. Military’s Edge: Critical Steps for the Next Administration
Commentary
The Bottom Line The United States is losing its military technological advantage vis-à-vis great power competitors such as China. Reversing this trend must be DoD leadership’...
By Michèle Flournoy & Gabrielle Chefitz
-
Sharper: Drones on the Battlefield
Commentary
From the battlefields of Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh to Ukraine, the deployment of drones has become a critical element of modern warfare. Will the explosion of unmanned aerial ...
By Anna Pederson & Molly Campbell
-
Drone Proliferation Dataset
Reports
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Drone Proliferation Dataset tracks global transfers of military-grade aerial drones, regardless of size and capability, between 1...
By Molly Campbell
-
How the Space Force Can Better Tell Its Story
Commentary
Space Force guardians should use the spotlight from real world events — like this story — to educate the public and advocate for resources....
By Hannah Dennis
