Red Star Over the Pacific, Second Edition: China’s Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy

Combining a close knowledge of Asia and an ability to tap Chinese-language sources with naval combat experience and expertise in sea-power theory, the authors assess how the rise of Chinese sea power will affect U.S. maritime strategy in Asia. They argue that China has laid the groundwork for a sustained challenge to American primacy in maritime Asia, and to defend this hypothesis they look back to Alfred Thayer Mahan’s sea-power theories, now popular with the Chinese. The book considers how strategic thought about the sea shapes Beijing’s deliberations and compares China’s geostrategic predicament to that of the Kaiser’s Germany a century ago. It examines the Chinese Navy’s operational concepts, tactics, and capabilities and appraises China’s missile force. The authors conclude that China now presents a challenge to America’s strategic position of such magnitude that Washington must compete in earnest.

Dr. Toshi Yoshihara is a professor in the Strategy and Policy Department at the Naval War College. Previously, he was a visiting professor in the Strategy Department at the Air War College. Dr. Yoshihara holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

James R. Holmes is a professor of strategy at the Naval War College and a faculty associate at the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs. A former U.S. Navy surface warfare officer, he earned a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.