Towards a Balanced and Sustainable Defense

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates defines “balance” as the critical principle of his defense strategy. This emphasizes achieving a balance between current conflicts and dangerous and more conventional wars in the future. But finding the right balance between types of war is only one form of balance. We also need to balance the nation's checkbook, and define the balance between what we spend on defense and what we can afford for the long term. Balance is not enough, our defense investments must be sustainable. Defense spending today, in inflation adjusted dollars, is at an all time high and exceeds Cold War levels. This has helped sustain the world's finest military, but the funding for this buildup and two wars has been borrowed from foreign sources. The accumulated debt and subsequent interest payments have reduced our ability to weather the current economic crisis and will drag on our economic recovery for years to come. The Obama administration must craft a grand strategy to get us out of the red—strategically and fiscally. This essay offers a set of strategy, structure and investment shifts to that end.     

The New Maritime Strategy: Confronting Peer Competitors, Rogue States, and Transnational Insurgents

Established military organizations, such as the U.S. military services, have many things – revered service traditions, stable bureaucratic structures, standard operating procedures, and of course distinctive weapons systems.¹ Ideally, they should also have a coherent military strategy, one which will guide them in how to fight their wars or how to deter these wars from ever happening. The U.S. Navy is now developing a new maritime strategy, its first real strategy since the 1980s. The Maritime Strategy then was directed toward a single enemy, the Soviet Union. The new strategy faces three very different kinds of enemies: peer competitors, rogue states and transnational terrorists. The new strategy will include such familiar concepts as containment and deterrence, but is should be centered upon the concepts of command of the commons and denial.     

印度的海洋战略及印美在印度洋的合作与矛盾

作为主要的印度洋国家,印度长期以来寻求一项确保自身安全和经济利益的大国海洋战略,它体现了印度立足南亚、面向印度洋、争做世界大国的战略图谋。冷战结束以来,特别是随着印度综合国力的发展以及追寻其“大国梦”的步骤加快,印度对印度洋的安全需求持续增大,将确保海洋战略利益、特别是保证印度洋海上石油通道的安全视为保护其基本国家战略利益的头等大事。鉴于印度洋对印度和美国的重要战略意义,印度在实施其海洋战略过程中既会与美国保持合作,同时也可能引发相互间的利益冲突。     

Stability and Change in U.S. Grand Strategy

Since the Global War on Terror (more recently termed the Long War) emerged as the centerpiece of U.S. grand strategy in 2001, the post–Cold War U.S. debate has narrowed significantly. Essentially three alternative strategies now compete for pride of place. Two are variants of a “primacy” strategy; one is a variant of “restraint,” sometimes termed “offshore balancing.” All three strategies take globalization as a given and as a positive development. None specifically connects U.S. military power to globalization. To the extent that globalization can be argued to have negative consequences, restraint offers a different remedy than either version of primacy. This article offers a brief characterization of globalization and speculates on its positive and negative results. The three grand strategies that remain visible in the U.S. public policy debate, and their suggested remedies, are then discussed. Finally, the U.S. military strengths and weaknesses are evaluated in order to gauge which strategy's remedies are most feasible.     

China's New Multi-Faceted Maritime Strategy

As trade-driven growth and prosperity redefine both the Chinese economy and the global competitive landscape, U.S. policy makers increasingly must ponder whether the Chinese leadership will seek new options and capabilities to protect its far-reaching oceanic lifelines. As imported oil and raw minerals power the Chinese juggernaut, much of these flows traverse the Strait of Malacca and other littorals where there is little current Chinese capability to project power. In recent years, there is an ongoing debate among Chinese military circles regarding the feasibility of constructing a blue-water fleet that could change the balance of power in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans. U.S. policy makers watch with increasing unease as a new generation of technically-savvy navy officers forcefully argue for a forward-looking maritime strategic posture that extends beyond the East and South China Seas. In addition, recent Chinese space-based and cyber warfare technology initatives bear watching as Beijing seeks to nullify key U.S. advantages in C4SRI using a high-tech variant of “asymmetric warfare.” Although it is unclear what direction future Chinese maritime strategy and doctrine will take, U.S. policy makers need to remain vigilant about rising Chinese maritime ambitions and capabilities in the future.     

Islam embedded: Religion and plurality in Southeast Asia as a mirror for Europe

This essay is a brief introductory survey of some fundamental aspects of Islam in Southeast Asia, particularly, within the maritime Malay-Muslim world. Ethnic, linguistic and cultural variation is the norm in the region. In addition, the region is heir to Hindu and Buddhist traditions and also to three European colonial systems of government and administration (Portuguese, Dutch and British). Islam is but one amongst all these. In some aspects of life it has been considerably reformulated by them. Thus to understand Islam in Southeast Asia one must begin with data from the area than with some Middle-Eastern and theological formulation of Islam. But we have to recognize that Islam is a universalistic theology originating from the Arabic Middle East. Therefore, a more informed analysis and understanding of Islam and Muslims in Southeast Asia and their contemporary articulations must be ‘embedded’ in the historical reality of both the plurality and plural society templates that become the ‘moulds’ of social life in the region. Similarly, to understand contemporary Islam and Muslims in Europe, its ‘embedization processes’, both breadth and depth, have to be understood historically and sociologically.     

海权问题与中美关系述论

从近代到冷战时期,海权问题一直是重大战略问题。长期以来,我国在反对美国海洋霸权、维护我国海洋安全进行了不懈的斗争。冷战后,美国的太平洋海权战略安排具有遏制中国作为潜在对手挑战美国太平洋霸权的图谋,并集中体现在美日军事同盟、台湾问题、南海问题等具体领域对中国的海洋主权和海洋权益形成沉重的压力与挑战,对此中国应该引起高度重视。     

论中国海洋强国战略的内涵与法律制度

"党的十八大报告"提出了建设海洋强国的国家战略目标,国际实践启示我们,应对和处理海洋问题的关键是,在国内应制定和实施国家海洋战略、以及保障海洋战略实施的法律制度,以固化和保障这些海洋政策和措施的实施,实现海洋强国战略目标。鉴于我国的基本国情,我国重点通过发展海洋经济路径建设海洋强国的战略目标,应分阶段地实施,包括区域性海洋大国/强国和世界性海洋大国/强国等阶段,并指出了在各个阶段的具体目标和任务,以及实现这些目标的具体措施及基本指标,也论述了国家海洋战略的内涵及制定保障海洋政策和措施实施的海洋基本法的意义。     

Chinese maritime concepts

The ancient Chinese always had a complex psychic relation to the vast ocean: longing, but disdaining. On the one hand, they thought there were elfish hills, immortals, and fairy trees abroad; on the other hand, they viewed overseas residents as strange. Before the fifteenth century, the Chinese people were capable of conducting maritime operations positively and entering into contacting peaceful and friendly contacts with foreign countries, the establishment of Ming Dynasty suppression of the coastal areas and the closed-door policy became its basic national policy. After the failure of the first Opium War, some coastal military officials and intellectual elites took the lead in “seeing the world”; they were cognizant of the superior might of western firepower and claimed that the Chinese should “learn from the ‘barbarians’ advanced skills to resist their aggression”. However, even those provincial magnates who actively advocated coastal defense such as Li Hongzhang and Shen Baozhen also failed to really comprehend the oceans' great economic and military value and separated themselves from the set pattern of the old land-based coastal defense. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century, with the introduction of A. T. Mahan's Sea Power Theory, that the Chinese people gained a comparatively profound cognition of the importance of protecting national maritime interests. The democratic revolutionist Sun Yat-sen insisted that man should strive for survival and development by means of the oceans. However, at the beginning of the establishment of the People's Republic of China, faced with the economic blockade and political pressure by western powers, the Chinese government still took land development and “coastal security” as the center and neglected the effective management of the maritime territory. Since “reform and opening-up”, the second generation of central collective leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Deng Xiaoping at its core, proposed the coastal strategic concept of “offshore defense” and the principle of “laying sovereignty and jointly exploring” for handling maritime disputes, and the third generation of central collective leaders of CPC with Jiang Zemin, at its core, emphasized a better understanding of the oceans from the height of strategy. Nowadays, under the influence of the increasing emphasis on the oceans all over the world, the voice of the Chinese government and Chinese people to establish a strong naval power has become increasingly stronger, but its action is still impeded by many aspects.     

马来西亚南海安全政策初探

南海分布着马来西亚的领海和专属经济区海域,是马来西亚国家利益的重要组成部分。为实践在南海地区“维护海洋环境的稳定,不受限制地开发海洋资源和开展国际贸易”的战略构想,马来西亚通过建立和发展自主的国防力量,与区域内外国家开展有限的安全合作以增强在南海的防御能力,并通过各种途径巩固对南沙部分岛礁的占领,实现其在南海的主权安全和经济安全。马来西亚将南海视为其海洋利益拓展的前沿阵地,在南海问题趋于复杂化、国际化的背景下,马来西亚希望通过实施大国平衡战略,维持南海地区的力量平衡,创造对己有利的海上安全环境。     

The EU's security and the sea: defining a maritime security strategy

Abstract

This article comprehensively discusses the maritime dimension of the European Union's (EU's) security, which encompasses military and civilian aspects, intergovernmental and community components as well as institutional and geopolitical elements. First, the article provides a narrative of the development of the maritime element in the EU's security policy since the adoption of the European Security Strategy in 2003. By depicting the interrelations between the sea and the EU's security, the article shows that the maritime dimension of EU security is generally well established, but often obscured by the complicated institutional structure of the Union. Thereafter, the article emphasises the need to define an effective EU Maritime Security Strategy, which would provide a strategic framework for the Union's security-related activities regarding the sea that encompass maritime power projection, as well as maritime security and safety. Accordingly the article provides some recommendations concerning the definition of such a strategy and for appropriate constituting elements: the maritime-related risks and threats, the maritime strategic objectives, the means to implement the strategy, and the theatres of EU maritime operations.     

俄罗斯海上战略通道思想与政策探析

在历史上,俄罗斯为了争夺出海口,占领和控制黑海海峡,与西方列强展开激烈的争夺。冷战结束后,俄罗斯采取更为现实的做法,积极发展海军,以加强海上战略核威慑力量为突破口,重视海上的国际合作,切实维护好与俄罗斯利益相关的海上通道的安全。研究俄罗斯海上通道安全的思想和政策,对维护国际战略通道的安全与合作,制定中国的通道战略思想具有重要意义。     

国际海洋开发大势下东南亚国家的海洋活动

目前,激烈争夺海洋成为各国扩大其生存空间的必然趋势和基本发展战略。1982年4月,联合国第三次海洋法会议通过《联合国海洋法公约》以后,世界各国纷纷宣布建立200海里专属经济区,并加快海洋资源勘探开发的步伐。目前,东南亚国家对海洋权益的要求集中在海洋矿物资源的勘探开发上,并把其勘探开发行动从自己国家的近海向外延伸,程度不同地侵夺本应属于中国的南海主权。我国也应树立海洋国土危机意识,审时度势,掌握主动,有理、有利、有节地开展与别国进行海洋合作的研究与行动实施。     

中国当前的海上安全挑战及对策

自20世纪80年代改革开放以来,中国海洋事业的发展取得了长足的进步。近年中国面临的海上安全挑战加大,迫使中国必须加快考虑并制定自己的海上安全战略,以确保中国的领土主权和海上权益不受侵害,同时最大程度地确保中国面向海洋的可持续性发展。     

Grand Strategy of ‘Restrainment’

With the end of the Cold War, the subsequent global war on terror, the global economic recession, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, one would think that the United States would have formulated a grand strategy for dealing with these problems. This, however, is not the case. This article advances a grand strategy of “restrainment,” as a guiding concept for our approach to international politics. It builds from the principle that U.S. policy must seek to restrain—individually and collectively—those forces, ideas, and movements in international politics that create instability, crises, and war.     

印度海洋战略析论

作为印度洋地区的重要国家，印度积极推行以称雄印度洋为核心目标的海洋战略，争当海权强国。经过20多年的发展与完善，印度已经形成一套完备的海洋战略思想体系，其体系建构之宏大，远洋海军发展信心之坚定日益引起亚太地区国家的广泛关注。尤其是近年来，印度大举扩充海军军备，意图打造一支攻守兼备的庞大远洋海军，更令周边国家感到不安。如何看待印度海洋战略的内涵和利益指向是包括中国在内的国家应当审慎思量和切实应对的重要问题。     

印度-澳大利亚海洋合作:动力与制约

印度和澳大利亚近年来不断加强海洋合作。这主要表现在举行联合海军演习、建立海洋对话机制、推动地区海洋治理等方面。两国之所以不断加强海洋合作,主要因为双方都调整了海洋战略、均希望制衡中国、促进经贸合作以及应对海上非传统安全威胁。另一方面,由于双方全球外交战略存在差异、对中国的看法并不完全一致、印度不满澳大利亚发展与巴基斯坦的关系,以及印澳距离较远和经济关系不密切,两国在进行海洋合作时会受到一定制约。不过,由于双方不存在根本性矛盾,共同利益远大于分歧,两国未来还会进一步加强海洋合作。     

China-U.S. Trade——the Path of Development

The United States is the world's largest economy and China is ranked number four; together the two countries comprise one third of the global economy. 40% of the international economic growth is sustained by the two countries. In terms of international trade, the United States and China are the first and the third largest trading nations respectively. Trade developments of these two countries have a huge impact on international imports and exports.     

Cheap Hawks, Cheap Doves, and the Pursuit of Strategy

The post-9/11 threats to American security require a complete revision of American national strategy. For too long, presidents have had to favor quick, cheap solutions to crises, unable to count on support from the “homebody” public for long, drawn-out conflicts. “Cheap hawks” among them have hoped that apocalyptic rhetoric will suffice when resources fall short; “cheap doves” hope that by ignoring the threat, it will go away. But with the war on terror, the revival of geopolitics, and ever-accelerating globalization, the U.S. tradition of bellicose rhetoric backed by underwhelming force is a recipe for failure. To effectively manage its threats, America needs a new catechism and to make sure its economic, energy, and military policies support this.     

Indonesia Returns to the International Stage: Good News for the United States

Indonesia, the world's fourth largest country, third largest democracy and home to the world's largest community of Muslims, has returned to the international stage. Indonesia's membership in a number of important global communities-it resides physically in Asia but is part of the broader Muslim world, the developing world, and the community of democracies-makes it an important international actor. Many Americans assume that common democratic values will translate into shared foreign policy goals and cooperation between the United States and Indonesia. The two countries do share significant interests, such as counter terrorism, maritime security, and a wariness of China, but also hold starkly different positions on the Middle East peace process and global trade issues. Democracy provides opportunities for the two-thirds of Indonesians who hold anti-American views to influence foreign policy, making it costly for Indonesian leaders to cooperate with the United States. Indonesia's return is good news for America, but the relationship needs to be managed skillfully to maximize benefits for both sides.