Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Decisive Decade: Prc Global Strategy And The Pla As A Pacing Challenge – 2023 Pla Conference

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The US Army War College’s 2023 Conference on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was held February 22 to 24, 2023, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The conference, entitled “Decisive Decade: PRC Global Strategy and the PLA as Pacing Challenge,” featured presentations on PRC global and regional strategy, and the PLA’s enabling role by experts from a wide range of academic, media, and government agencies and organizations.

The conference papers better defined the notion of the PLA as a pacing challenge as evidenced by PRC strategies and activities in various regions to build a much stronger appreciation of how PLA operations in …

International Competition In The High North: Kingston Conference On International Security 2022

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The 16th annual Kingston Consortium on International Security conference, “International Competition in the High North,” took place on October 11–13, 2022, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The conference examined the Arctic region in the context of ongoing climate change and against the backdrop of war in Ukraine. Over the past several years, the United States has acknowledged the growing importance of the Arctic as a strategic region, and the Department of Defense and each of the US military services have published Arctic policies or strategies. In addition, the Department of Defense has created a new regional study center, the Ted Stevens …

Deterrence Gap: Avoiding War In The Taiwan Strait, Jared M. Mckinney, Peter Harris

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The likelihood China will attack Taiwan in the next decade is high and will continue to be so, unless Taipei and Washington take urgent steps to restore deterrence across the Taiwan Strait. This monograph introduces the concept of interlocking deterrents, explains why deterrents lose their potency with the passage of time, and provides concrete recommendations for how Taiwan, the United States, and other regional powers can develop multiple, interlocking deterrents that will ensure Taiwanese security in the short and longer terms. By joining deterrence theory with an empirical analysis of Taiwanese, Chinese, and US policies, the monograph provides US military …

Emerging Giants And Lessons For Development: China, India, And Their Different Paths To Progress, Eskander Alvi Editor, Wei-Chiao Huang Editor

Upjohn Press

This book explores the differences and commonalities in growth experiences of two looming economic giants, China and India—countries that follow often-contrasting economic, social, and political paths as they struggle to achieve long-term prosperity for their billion-plus populations. The papers included within show that the economic and political realities in the two countries are quite different, and that these realities are deeply embedded in each country’s social framework. China and India are at markedly different stages of economic development but the challenges facing the two countries, unsurprisingly, diverge—not only because of the different stage of development each has reached, but also …

Threatening National Security Or Bridging The Digital Divide? A Case Study Of Huawei’S Expansion In Brazil, Julie Jin Zeng

Rosenberg Institute Scholars

China’s digital footprint has been expanding rapidly in Latin America in the last two decades. Neither the U.S.-China tech war nor the U.S.-led global campaign aimed at Chinese tech firms seemed to be able to reverse the trend. Much of the policy discussion in the western media surrounding China’s digital expansion focuses on the supply side, emphasizing the potential risks of adopting Chinese technologies. Yet there remains scant research on the demand side— namely, how policymakers in developing countries perceive Chinese tech firms and how they maneuver amid the intensifying rivalry between the U.S. and China. Why did Chinese tech …

Book Review: Blood And Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931–1945, Jonathan Klug

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Richard Overy

Reviewed by Jonathan Klug, colonel, US Army, and assistant professor, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College

Many track the start of World War II to Poland in 1939.In Blood and Ruins, Richard Overy contends the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria was the start of an Asian war that later merged into the 1939 war in Europe when Japan attacked America. The book addresses policy and strategy as well as operational, technical, and tactical issues.

Book Review: Four Battlegrounds: Power In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Robert J. Bunker

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Paul Scharre

Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis, managing partner, C/O Futures, LLC

Award-winning author Paul Scharre’s latest work, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, envisions artificial intelligence as ushering in a “new industrial revolution” with big military, economic, and political implications. The reviewer sees this “readable, tightly structured” book as “fascinating and important work from a US national security studies perspective” and “after-hours supplemental reading for US military and policy professionals who want to understand the political-military importance of AI and its strategic (in fact, civilizational) implications for the future.”

Repressive-Responsive Parameters Of Autocracies In Asia: Vietnam And China Compared, Nhu Truong

Rosenberg Institute Scholars

Moving beyond crude dichotomies of regime types, this article examines how state strategies of repression and responsiveness vary across autocracies in Asia. Specifically, Vietnam and China show significant variance on the reactive-institutionalized spectrum when it comes to land expropriation. Whereas Vietnam has systematically strengthened mechanisms against arbitrary land seizures, China has reactively opted for sketchy and ad-hoc reforms to curtail land conflicts. This article discloses the repressive-responsive parameters of autocracies in Asia through an original framework that allows for sharper analytical differentiation of how autocracies differ.

The Future Role Of Strategic Landpower, Philip F. Baker, Gregory L. Cantwell, Timothy L. Clark, Gregory R. Foxx, Justin M. Magula, Curtis S. Perkins, Kirk A. Sanders, Timothy A. Sikorski, Carl L. Zeppegno

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

Recent Russian aggression in Ukraine has reenergized military strategists and senior leaders to evaluate the role of strategic Landpower. American leadership in the European theater has mobilized allies and partners to reconsider force postures for responding to possible aggression against NATO members. Although Russian revisionist activity remains a threat in Europe, the challenges in the Pacific for strategic Landpower must also be considered. At the same time, the homeland, the Arctic, climate change, and the results of new and emerging technology also challenge the application of strategic Landpower. This publication serves as part of an enduring effort to evaluate strategic …

China’S Future Military Capabilities, Roger Cliff

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The 2022 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America identifies China as the “pacing challenge” for the US military. This monograph examines the process by which China’s military capabilities are developed, the capabilities China’s military is seeking to acquire in the future, and the resulting implications for the US military. To date, all the extant studies have merely described the capabilities the People’s Liberation Army is currently acquiring. This monograph goes further by drawing on the Chinese military’s publications to identify and discuss the capabilities the People’s Liberation Army seeks to acquire in the future. The monograph finds …

Book Review: Old & New Battlespaces: Society, Military Power, And War, Robert J. Bunker

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Authors: Jahara Matisek and Buddhika Jayamaha

Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis and managing partner, C/O Futures, LLC

Published on April 7, 2023. In Old & New Battlespaces: Society, Military Power, and War, Drs. Jahara Matisek and Buddhika Jayamaha, examine the nature of battlespace and how one can make sense of it across space, through well-known and emergent domains, and along the various levels of war, asking where one should look, how one should look, and for what one should look. Reviewer Dr. Robert J. Bunker shows how the book executes well in its modernist …

Pla Logistics And Sustainment: Pla Conference 2022, George R. Shatzer, Roger D. Cliff, Kenneth W. Allen, Joshua Arostegui, Justin Boggess, Travis Dolney, Matthew P. Funaiole, Brian Hart, Lonnie D. Henley, Bonny Lin, Erin Richter, Benjamin Rosen, James R. (J. R.) Sessions, Eli Tirk, Joel Wuthnow, Christopher D. Yung

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The US Army War College People’s Liberation Army Conference (PLA) Conference was held March 31 to April 2, 2022, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

The conference focused on PLA logistics and sustainment. As the PLA continues to build and modernize its combat forces, it is important to examine if the capabilities meant to support combat operations are also being developed.

Specific topics included: 1) China’s national-level logistics, including how China mobilizes national resources for the military and how it provides joint logistics support to the PLA Theater Commands; 2) the logistics capabilities of the different PLA services, especially the Army, Navy, …

Coercing Fluently: The Grammar Of Coercion In The Twenty-First Century, C. Anthony Pfaff

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

To illustrate the logic and grammar of coercion, this analysis relies on decision-theory methods, such as game theory, that examine the strategic decision-making process in interactions with adversaries and partners. The intent here is not to offer predictive models of rational-actor behavior. Rather, the intent is to use game-theory and similar approaches to understand how coercion works better. This analysis considers competitive interactions between actors that have discrete and qualifiable, if not quantifiable, preferences and who behave rationally, though this analysis acknowledges the behavior that is considered rational is frequently informed by nonrational social, cultural, and psychological factors. Considering these …

Enabling A More Externally Focused And Operational Pla – 2020 Pla Conference Papers, Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, David Brewster, Christopher Cairns, Roger Cliff, R. Evan Ellis, April Herlevi, Roy Kamphausen Mr., Roderick Lee, Paul Nantulya, Meia Nouwens, Rebecca Pincus, Joel Wuthnow

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

Although the People’s Liberation Army is not yet a global expeditionary force on par with the US military, the former has nevertheless significantly expanded its ability to operate abroad. Through enhanced technological capabilities, robust relationships with foreign militaries, increased access to overseas military bases and dual-use facilities, and the implementation of major structural reforms, the People’s Liberation Army has built a more integrated joint force capable of conducting a wider and more complex array of missions. This volume advances the understanding of the People’s Liberation Army’s capability to conduct overseas missions by examining China’s military relations with Europe, Africa, and …

China, Europe, And The Pandemic Recession: Beijing’S Investments And Transatlantic Security, John R. Deni, Chris Alden, Erik Brattberg, Roger Cliff, Mark Duckenfield, R. Evan Ellis, Nicholas Nelson, Lauren Speranza

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

Given the depth and breadth of the pandemic-induced recession in Europe, private companies in need of capital and governments looking to shed state-owned enterprises may be tempted to sell shares, assets, or outright ownership to investors with liquidity to spare. Of greatest concern is the role that China might play in Europe, building Beijing’s soft power, weakening allied geopolitical solidarity, and potentially reprising the role it played in the 2010s, when its investments in Europe expanded dramatically. More specifically, there is concern over China’s investments in infrastructure and sensitive technologies relevant to American and allied military operations and capabilities.

Whether …

A Hard Look At Hard Power: Assessing The Defense Capabilities Of Key Us Allies And Security Partners—Second Edition, Gary J. Schmitt Mr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

With the United States facing two major revisionist powers, Russia and China, as well as additional security threats from North Korea, Iran, and jihadist terrorism, a critical advantage for the United States is its global network of alliances and strategic partners. As the 2018 National Defense Strategy states, “Alliances and partnerships are crucial to our strategy, providing a durable asymmetric strategic advantage that no competitor or rival can match.”

The advantage of having military allies and partners is enhanced by the core capacity of the American military having remained largely the same over the past decade, though the global security …

An Army Transformed: Usindopacom Hypercompetition And Us Army Theater Design, Nathan P. Freier Mr., John Schaus, William G. Braun Iii

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The United States faces a hypercompetitive geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region, arguably the most consequential theater for US national interests over the coming decades. Although the United States has created exquisite military capabilities to counter insurgencies and fight terrorists, rivals like China have developed a whole-of-government toolkit focused on expanding their span of control and freedom of action, separating the United States from its allies, and deterring US leaders from greater engagement in East Asia.
China is actively transforming its military forces, with an eye toward defeating the United States in the event of armed hostilities. The People’s Republic …

"U.S.-China Competition In The Post-Covid-19 World: Globalization At A Cross-Roads", Min Ye

Rosenberg Institute Scholars

Strategic competition between the United States and China had been deteriorating much earlier than the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.1 However, in the past, despite intense political rivalry and geostrategic competition, policy communities and societies in the two countries have maintained active and robust engagement and dialogues. Much of the dialogues focused on complaints against each other’s behavior and intentions. Nonetheless, such dialogues kept information and concerns flowing between the rival powers. Concerned third-party actors often play stabilizing roles by communicating potential fragilities between Washington and Beijing. In short, pre-Covid-19, strategic rivalry between China and the U.S. was intense, but it …

Minimum Wages In China: Evolution, Legislation, And Effects, Shi Li, Carl Lin

Faculty Books

This book considers the positive and negative impacts of the minimum wage policy in China. Since China enacted its first minimum wage law in 1994, the magnitude and frequency of changes in the minimum wage have been substantial, both over time and across jurisdictions. The results from China’s experience show that rapidly increasing minimum wages have helped increase average wages and reduce the gender wage gap, income inequality, and poverty. However, the fast-rising minimum wage has also resulted in the loss of employment for young adults, women, low-skilled workers, and migrant workers. Additionally, higher minimum wages have a negative impact …

[Introduction To] Convenient Criticism: Local Media And Governance In Urban China, Dan Chen

Bookshelf

"Why and how does critical reporting persist at the local level in China despite state mediacontrol, a hallmark of authoritarian rule? Synthesizing ethnographic observation, interviews, survey and content analysis data, Convenient Criticism: Local Media and Governance and Urban China reveals evolving dynamics in local governance and the state-media relationship. Local critical reporting, though limited in scope, occurs because localleaders use media criticism strategically to increase bureaucratic control, address citizen grievances, and improve governance, something that ultimately advances their political careers. This new approach to governance enables the shaping of public opinion while at the same time disciplining subordinate bureaucrats. The …

An Unnatural Partnership? The Future Of U.S.-India Strategic Cooperation, Samit Ganguly, M. Chris Mason

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

As global competition with an increasingly assertive Chinese Government expands, the strategic relationship between India and the United States is assuming ever-greater importance. From a superficial perspective, a strategic partnership seems to make a great deal of sense for both countries. Yet, enormous political, cultural, and structural obstacles remain between them, which continue to slow the progress in security cooperation to a crawl, relative to China’s economic and military advances. The authors explore these impediments frankly and suggest practical ways to build trust and establish confidence.

The Impacts Of China's Rise On The Pacific And The World, Wei-Chiao Huang Editor, Huizhong Zhou Editor

Upjohn Press

This book provides the perspectives of a group of noted China experts on how China’s economic expansion and internal reforms are impacting its neighbors in the Pacific region as well as the United States and the rest of the world.

The Nixon Administration And American Foreign Relations, Luke A. Nichter

Presidential Studies Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Assessments of President Richard Nixon’s foreign policy continue to evolve as scholars tap new possibilities for research. Due to the long wait before national security records are declassified by the National Archives and made available to researchers and the public, only in recent decades has the excavation of the Nixon administration’s engagement with the world started to become well documented. As more records are released by the National Archives (including potentially 700 hours of Nixon’s secret White House tapes that remain closed), scholarly understanding of the Nixon presidency is likely to continue changing. Thus far, historians have pointed to four …

Leon Sun, Linda Hanes

International Faculty Researchers

Living and working in two countries provided a cultural contrast that has greatly inspired and influenced the art and design of Yuanliang (Leon) Sun, an associate professor of art at Western Michigan University.

Counterterrorism In Authoritarian And Democratic Governments, Tai Gray

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This research project aims to determine if significant differences exist in the types of counterterrorism used by authoritarian and democratic governments. A case study of the counterterrorism methods used by the United States and Chinese governments shows that authoritarian governments' methods seem to be more extreme due to a greater influence over domestic media and public opinion, but similarities in the realm of human rights also exist that could suggest a more similar response between the two regime types.

Guild-Ridden Labor Markets: The Curious Case Of Occupational Licensing, Morris M. Kleiner

Upjohn Press

In his third Upjohn Press book on occupational licensing, Morris M. Kleiner examines why the institution of occupational licensing has had such a curious evolution and influence in the United States, the European Union, and China. He also discusses the many similarities it has to guilds.

Dragon Versus Eagle: The Chinese Economy And U.S.-China Relations, Wei-Chiao Huang Editor, Huizhong Zhou Editor

Upjohn Press

This book contains a group of papers that examine the complex and evolving economic relationship between China and the United States.

Papers From The 4th International Conference On Public Management In The 21st Century: Opportunities And Challenges, Dale Krane, Zhikui Lu

Faculty Books and Monographs

Paper, "The Attractions and Challenges of Collaborative Public Management," co-written by Dale Krane, UNO faculty member.

Solutions to problems confronting public officials increasingly require the creation of collaborative arrangements not only among public agencies, horizontally and vertically, but also with nonprofit organizations and/or for-profit enterprises. This shift to collaborative public management is propelled by claims it will remedy the pathologies associated with hierarchical bureaucracies, inter-jurisdictional conflicts, increased problem complexity, resource deficiencies, and lack of citizen participation in policy decisions. This paper reviews the emergence of the movement toward collaborative public management, the efforts to conceptualize and model collaboration, and the …

Ann Veeck, Nate Coe

International Faculty Researchers

Rapidly changing food consumption patterns in China has for the last 15 years captured the attention of Western Michigan University international researcher and marketing professor Dr. Ann Veeck. In nearly annual trips to China, Veeck examines how these patterns are changing parallel to the expansion of the Chinese economy and how marketing efforts affect consumers' lives in both positive and negative ways.

Ann Veeck's website

Victor Xiong, Julia Valentine

International Faculty Researchers

Dr. Victor Cunrui Xiong, Western Michigan University professor of Chinese and East Asian history, is a Chinese medievalist by training recognized internationally for his research and publications focused on Early Imperial China, especially the Sui-Tang period.

Victor Xiong's website