Dr Walter Ladwig writes on the best defense for US against China: dialogue

Walter Ladwig has written an op-ed piece for the New York Times (27 September) about how the United States might direct military strategy against China, entitled The Best Defense is Dialogue, and based on a recent meeting with a variety of members of Chinas strategic community in Beijing.

He writes, "Each side views its own military preparations as defensive and the other’s as hostile. Under the circumstances, it is no surprise that their public proclamations of a desire to work for harmonious relations ring hollow, at least to each other."

And he goes on to say, "A key aspect of that strategy must be a broad-based engagement with China’s top leadership, academics and strategists, as well as its next generation of military leaders.

Frequent and frank dialogue about the reasons for U.S. military modernization, and about China’s own military capabilities and behavior, need to be part of that conversation, as do the benefits of sustained collaboration between the world’s two largest economies.

In contrast, a narrow focus on military strategies fosters the kind of mutual suspicion that can escalate into costly rivalry. Both countries need to remember that military plans are worst case scenarios designed to hedge against risk, not statements of preferred outcomes."

The full article can be read here.

Walter C. Ladwig III is a Departmental Lecturer of International Relations.