Fifty to One: Why China Is Weaker Than it Looks Militarily in Maritime East Asia
Defense is dominant in maritime East Asia.
“[D]efense is dominant, at least within maritime East Asia, because precision-guided munitions enable even relatively weak countries to sink surface ships and shoot down aircraft near their homelands.... China’s neighbors can counter Chinese naval expansion asymmetrically, by launching precision-guided munitions from a variety of relatively cheap platforms.... According to a recent study, the average cost of an A2/AD [anti-access/area denial] capability is about one-fiftieth the cost of the power-projection capability that it could neutralize in war.”
-- Michael Beckley, in the fall 2017 issue of International Security
This also makes me wonder if focusing on naval platforms -- aka a “350-ship Navy” -- is wise.
“[D]efense is dominant, at least within maritime East Asia, because precision-guided munitions enable even relatively weak countries to sink surface ships and shoot down aircraft near their homelands…. China’s neighbors can counter Chinese naval expansion asymmetrically, by launching precision-guided munitions from a variety of relatively cheap platforms…. According to a recent study, the average cost of an A2/AD [anti-access/area denial] capability is about one-fiftieth the cost of the power-projection capability that it could neutralize in war.”
— Michael Beckley, in the fall 2017 issue of International Security
This also makes me wonder if focusing on naval platforms — aka a “350-ship Navy” — is wise.
More from Foreign Policy

Is Cold War Inevitable?
A new biography of George Kennan, the father of containment, raises questions about whether the old Cold War—and the emerging one with China—could have been avoided.

So You Want to Buy an Ambassadorship
The United States is the only Western government that routinely rewards mega-donors with top diplomatic posts.

Can China Pull Off Its Charm Offensive?
Why Beijing’s foreign-policy reset will—or won’t—work out.

Turkey’s Problem Isn’t Sweden. It’s the United States.
Erdogan has focused on Stockholm’s stance toward Kurdish exile groups, but Ankara’s real demand is the end of U.S. support for Kurds in Syria.