The United States and a Rising China: Strategic and Military Implications (1999) - Softcover

This report summarizes the findings of a multiyear project entitled"Chinese Defense Modernization and Its Implications for the UnitedStates Air Force." It focuses on the fundamental question of howU.S. policy should deal with China, a rising power that could have thecapability, in the not too distant future, of challenging the U.S. positionin East Asia and the U.S. military, political and economic accessto that dynamic and important region. It then specifically addressesthe implications for the U.S. Air Force (USAF), in the areas of shapingthe environment, deterrence and war fighting. This summary drawsheavily on the other work conducted in the course of the study. Theresults of some of this work has been, or will soon be, published inother RAND documents.This project is being conducted in the Strategy and Doctrine Programof Project AIR FORCE under the sponsorship of the Deputy Chief ofStaff for Air and Space Operations, U.S. Air Force (AF/XO) and theCommander, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF/CC). This report should beof interest to members of the national security community and tointerested members of the general public. Comments are welcomedand may be addressed to the project leader, Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad.PROJECT AIR FORCEProject AIR FORCE, a division of RAND, is the Air Force federallyfunded research and development center (FFRDC) for studies andanalyses. It provides the Air Force with independent analyses ofpolicy alternatives affecting the development, employment, combatreadiness, and support of current and future aerospace forces. Research is performed in four programs: Aerospace Force Development; Manpower, Personnel, and Training; Resource Management; and Strategy Defense.

Zalmay Khalilzad (Ph.D., Political Science, University of Chicago) was formerly the leader of Project Air Force's Strategy and Doctrine Program at Rand. He was assistant undersecretary of defense for policy planning during the Bush administration. Khalilzad joined the White House staff on Monday, May 14, 2001, as special assistant to the president and senior director at the National Security Council. Daniel L. Byman (Ph.D., political science, M.I.T.) is a policy analyst at Rand whose research interests include modeling ethnic conflict, assessing Middle East politics and security issues, developing countermeasures against terrorism, reevaluating air power theory, and other general issues related to U.S. foreign policy. Roger Cliff (Ph.D., International Relations, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University) is an Associate Political Scientist, Rand, Washington DC. Areas of research include U.S. policy toward China, Chinese arms transfers, technological progress in China, and Chinese military technology. David T. Orletsky (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SM, Aeronautics and Astronautics) is an Associate Engineer, at Rand, Washington, DC. His research interests include Chinese defense modernization; command and control sensor, weapon, and communication technology; and USAF operational analysis.