Misunderstood Dragon or Underestimated Panda: How China Reacts to External National Security Crises

Abstract

This study uses the theory of strategic culture to analyze how China reacts to an external national security crisis. Following an overview of the theory, the author introduces a strategic culture framework. Three cases studies (Korean War, Vietnam War, and 1995 Taiwan crisis) serve as qualitative evidence for the framework. This study concludes that strategic culture is useful as a supplementary lens in understanding Chinese responses to a security crisis. The framework also provides a rough translation of Chinese strategic concepts into familiar US concepts. The framework can aid a US strategist by helping anticipate how Chinese strategic culture will lead Beijing to react during a security crisis. A sample application of the framework in a real-world scenario is included as an appendix.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA540534

Entities

People

  • Jay B. Reeves

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Business Administration
  • Civil War
  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • Korean War
  • Military History
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Political Science
  • Recreation
  • United States
  • Vietnam War
  • War
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Business Analytics
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies