Asia Pacific

Tacit Acceptance and Watchful Eyes: Beijing's Views about the U.S.-ROK Alliance Dr Fei-Ling Wang Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "To understand China's foreign policy in the 1990s and the true attitude of Beijing towards the military presence of the United States in Northeast Asia, one must examine China's perception of the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK). Public statements aside, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has shifted its traditional position and has tacitly accepted, even welcomed, the continuation of the U.S.-ROK alliance. Beijing views the institutionalized presence of the Americans in Northeast Asia as a stabilizing force, serving China's interest of maintaining the favorable status quo in the region. However, continued acceptance is not guaranteed; developments in the Sino-American relationship and the course of reunification of the Korean Peninsula will affect attitudes in the future."

Managing a Changing Relationship: China's Japan Policy in the 1990s Prof Robert S Ross Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Many of the same factors that affect Sino-American relations and Sino-Russian relations are integral to the relationship between Beijing and Tokyo. Among these are Chinese treatment of dissidents, the Taiwan issue, economic investment, and Japanese military policy and strategy. Today Japanese and Chinese interests compete in many areas, requiring tolerance, patience and diplomatic sophistication to keep competition from evolving into conflict. In the future, these challenges are likely to grow in complexity."

What's with the Relationship between America's Army and China's PLA? COL Jer Donald Get Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In May 1995, Secretary of Defense William J. Perry asked the Army to examine various ways to re-establish the army-to-army ties which existed between the U.S. Army and Beijing's People's Liberation Army (PLA) prior to the 1980s. U.S. President George Bush ordered a curb in military-to-military ties following the Tiananmen incident in 1989, and, since then, efforts at rapprochement between the two armies have been faltering and uneven."

China's Quest for Security in the Post-Cold War World Dr Samuel S Kim Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "China's security behavior, riddled with contradictions and paradoxes, seemed made to order for challenging scholars and policymakers concerned about the shape of things to come in post-Cold War international life. With the progressive removal of the Soviet threat from China's expansive security parameters from Southeast Asia, through South Asia and Central Asia, to Northeast Asia, coupled with the growing engagement in international economic and security institutions, came perhaps the most benign external strategic environment and the greatest international interdependence that China has ever enjoyed in its checkered international relations. Despite the deterioration of Sino-American relations in the past 2 years, most Chinese strategic analysts do not believe the United States poses a clear and present military threat..."

China's Transition into the 21st Century: U.S. and PRC Perspectives Dr David Shambaugh, Senior Colonel Wang Zhongchun Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The United States is dealing with a complex and transitional political system in China. By some measures it is a strong, centralized, competent and decisive system. By others, it is a decentralized, weak, fragile, and decaying system. Understanding the nature of the transitions affecting the Chinese political system, the system's many complexities, and its strengths and weaknesses, is fundamental to fashioning an American strategy for dealing with China in the years to come. How China will behave on the world stage, whether it keeps its agreements with the United States and other nations, and its willingness to accept and uphold the norms and standards of international relations, all depend in no small part on the nature and evolution of China's political system and the officials that work in it."

India's Security Environment: Towards the Year 2000 Dr Raju G C Thomas Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In his presentation to the conference, Dr. Raju Thomas examined India's defense perspectives and prospects. From the standpoint of national security, India's post-independence history divides neatly into a turbulent first half, which included conflicts with China and Pakistan, and a relatively more stable period since 1971. That stability has been rattled by significant challenges (Kashmir, Sri Lanka, etc.), as Dr. Thomas points out. Five years ago, the collapse of the Soviet Union seemed to presage a more troubled era. Certainly, it caused as broad a reassessment of strategic policy in South Asia as elsewhere in the world."

China and the Revolution in Military Affairs Dr Bates Gill, LTC Lonnie Henley Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This paper is organized into four principal sections. The first section will introduce a framework for analysis by first broadly sketching the meaning of a revolution in military affairs (RMA) and offering general background points about China's relationship to past and current RMAs. The body of the paper consists of two principal sections which focus respectively on economic and socio-cultural factors and which affect China's capacity for change, innovation, and adaptability particularly in areas of activity critical to grasping the current RMA. A concluding section will assess how socio-cultural and economic factors will affect China's progress in grasping the current RMA in particular, and its military effectiveness overall."

The Invitation to Struggle: Executive and Legislative Competition over the U.S. Military Presence on the Korean Peninsula Dr William E Berry Jr Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The primary focus of this monograph is the ongoing debate between the executive and legislative branches of government in the United States concerning the American military presence in the Republic of Korea. It begins by examining the debate surrounding the ratification of the Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953, and the Senate's decision to attach an "understanding" to that treaty. The Nixon and Carter administrations are particularly important because major efforts occurred in each to reduce the U.S. presence. In the case of the Nixon administration, the Congress was a major impetus to this reduction, whereas in the Carter administration, the Congress worked hard to impede Carter's troop withdrawal initiative. The reasons for this role reversal are very informative."

China's Strategic View: The Role of the People's Liberation Army Dr June Teufel-Dreyer Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Although the militant rhetoric of past decades has abated, the leadership of the People's Republic of China (PRC) is profoundly dissatisfied with the international status quo. The dissolution of the Soviet Union weakened China's ability to wrest concessions from the United States by threatening to move closer to the USSR, and from the USSR by threatening to support the United States. While some leverage can, and is, gained by negotiating with the major successor state to the Soviet Union, this leverage is more limited than in the past..."