How does China think about the nature of war? How has China’s conception of war changed over time? What are “military guidelines” in Chinese statecraft and what leads the Chinese leadership to develop new ones? These and other questions are discussed in the latest episode of Jaw-Jaw, where Professor Taylor Fravel discusses his recent book Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy Since 1949.

Biographies

Taylor Fravel is the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and member of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Taylor is a graduate of Middlebury College and Stanford University, where he received his PhD. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the International Studies Quarterly, Security Studies, Journal of Strategic Studies, and the China Quarterly, and is a member of the board of directors for the National Committee on U.S. - China Relations. He is also the Principal Investigator of the Maritime Awareness Project.

Brad Carson is a professor at the University of Virginia, where he teaches in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001-2005 and was Undersecretary of the Army and acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness in the Obama administration. He welcomes comments at brad.carson@warontherocks.com.

Links

• National Defense University, "Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms," (2019)
• David Edelstein, "Over the Horizon: Time, Uncertainty, and the Rise of Great Powers," (Cornell University Press, 2017)
• Carl Minzner, "End of an Era: How China's Authoritarian Revival is Undermining Its Rise," (Oxford University Press, 2018)

What threat does a revisionist China pose to the United States and democratically minded states around the world? Where should we look to find out the intentions of the Chinese Communist Party? If left unchecked, will China export its illiberal form of government? These and other questions are explored in this week’s episode of Jaw-Jaw. For a full transcript of this interview, click here. 

Biographies 

Peter Mattis is a Research Fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and a contributing editor at War on the Rocks. He was a Fellow in the China Program at The Jamestown Foundation, where he also served as editor of the foundation’s China Brief, a biweekly electronic journal on greater China, from 2011 to 2013. He previously worked as an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency for four years. Prior to entering government service, Mr. Mattis worked as a research associate at the National Bureau of Asian Research in its Strategic Asia and Northeast Asian Studies programs, providing research assistance and editing support.

Brad Carson is a professor at the University of Virginia, where he teaches in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001-2005 and was Undersecretary of the Army and acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness in the Obama administration. He welcomes comments at brad.carson@warontherocks.com.

Links

• Elizabeth Economy, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, (Oxford University Press, 2018)
• Jonathan Ward, China's Vision of Victory, (Atlas Publishing and Media Company, 2019)
• Adam Brookes, The Night Heron, (Redhook, 2014)
• Adam Brookes, Spy Games, (Redhook, 2015)
• Adam Brookes, The Spy's Daughter, (Sphere, 2017)

The United States and China are headed for a “cold war lite,” says Minxin Pei. What does this exactly mean? And what threat does China present to the U.S. that would necessitate such a confrontational posture? Can China transition to a less export-driven economy or will its growth inevitably slow? What are the root causes of corruption in China? Is Xi’s anti-corruption campaign successful? These and other questions are explored in this week’s episode of Jaw-Jaw. If you'd like a transcript of this episode, please click here.

Biographies

Minxin Pei is the Tom and Margot Pritzker ’72 Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College. His research has been published in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, the National Interest, Modern China, China Quarterly, Journal of Democracy, and his op-eds have appeared in the Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek International, and International Herald Tribune, and other major newspapers. Professor Pei is the author of China’s Crony Capitalism: The Dynamics of Regime Decay (2016); China’s Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy (2006); and From Reform to Revolution: The Demise of Communism in China and the Soviet Union (1994).

Brad Carson is a professor at the University of Virginia, where he teaches in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001-2005 and was Undersecretary of the Army and acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness in the Obama Administration. He welcomes comments at brad.carson@warontherocks.com.

Links

• Liz Economy, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, (Oxford University Press, May 2018)
• Nicholas Lardy, The State Strikes Back: The End of Economic Reform in China?, (Peterson Institute for International Economics, January 2019)
• Minxin Pei, China's Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy, (Harvard University Press, March 2006)