Dissecting the Dragon

<p>This study aims to develop and assess strategic options for confronting a hostile China with the specific intent of recommending changes to US strategy to enhance the United States' ability to defend Taiwan. By evaluating the military modernization effort currently underway in China the author distills an overall Chinese anti-access military strategy which through asymmetric means grants the Chinese for the first time a reasonable expectation of air superiority over and around Taiwan. Furthermore the author examines and discredits the doctrine of overwhelming force that has come to characterize America at war in the modern era. With this conventional wisdom invalidated the author analyzes China's general and specific strategic goals and describes a critical disparity between China's narrow goal of Taiwanese re-unification and China's grand strategic goals of continued economic prosperity and regional hegemony. Using this disparity as a critical leverage point the author develops five strategic options: blockade of the Malacca Strait conventional compellence counter invasion unconventional warfare and nuclear brinkmanship.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>