Space, Cyberspace, and Strategic Stability in the Asia-Pacific

Performer: National Bureau of Asian Research Project Lead: Abraham Denmark Project Cost: $225,000 FY15-16Objective: The Asia-Pacific is emerging as the world’s most dynamic strategic environment with expanding geopolitical significance and military importance. Emerging strategic dynamics, such as space and cyberspace capabilities, have the potential to dramatically influence regional stability. This two-year project seeks to analyze the implications of reliance on space and cyber technologies for strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific, including increasing pressure on traditional deterrence frameworks. This project will deepen understanding of the complex dynamics influencing strategic stability in the region and unlock new policy considerations to address in Asia. Through a better understanding of these issues, the United States will be in an improved position to manage growing threats in the region to its security and prosperity.PASC

Beijing’s “Starter Carrier” and Future Steps

Just as a newlywed couple wants a “starter home,” a new great power wants a “starter carrier.” China’s navy has finally realized its longtime dream of obtaining an aircraft carrier and sending it to sea. This is the first step in a long journey that will change China’s navy and how it relates to the world. At 5:40 AM local time on Wednesday, 10 August 2011, more than eighty years after the idea was originally proposed, China’s first carrier disappeared into the fog under tight security from Dalian harbor’s Xianglujiao Port, in northeast Liaoning Province, to begin sea trials in the Bohai and northern Yellow Seas. This was yet another coming-out party for China as a great power on the rise