A National Asset in Newport

Earlier in the week, Galrahn made us all aware of some of the pickings from the Naval War College Review's August 2009 edition. Having written here before about the Chinese Anti-ship Ballistic Missile Program, I was excited to see an article co-authored by Andrew Erickson and David Yang entitled "Using the Land to Control the Sea? Chinese Analysts Consider the Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (Naval War College Review, Vol 62, No.4 Autumn 2009, pp.53-86). I don't know much about David Yang, but Dr. Andrew Erickson is a fantastic China scholar at the China Maritime Studies Institute at the Naval War College. I got to know him and the Director of CMSI (Dr. Lyle Goldstein) during the Maritime Strategy effort, but more importantly, I became aware of the irreplaceable work the scholars at CMSI do to help provide insight into China's maritime goals and interests.

Goldstein and his team have put together an impressive database of research culled from an impressive array of open source documents, both written and electronic. Their passion for the work was exceeded only by the depth of their research and the quality of their conclusions. The linked to report above is an example of such dedication. Just a few days ago, I kicked off a discussion here on this blog about the dangers of the use of ballistic missiles--which are generally speaking--the missile upon which nuclear warheads are placed. Because no nation possesses the capability to know whether a ballistic missile is nuclear or conventional, their use in warfare (especially between nuclear powers) adds a dangerous layer of uncertainty. Erickson and Yang were able in their research to find examples of just this debate going on in the open source literature available to them--raising to me the importance of this point as a strategic lever as we continue to press the Chinese on ASBM development.

I gained an immense respect for the folks at the Naval War College during the year in which I worked closely with them, and the China Maritime Studies Institute was no exception. Whatever it costs to keep this bunch in business is well worth it.

Bryan McGrath