China's strides towards the creation of a formidable military posture, backed by strong economic growth, demonstrate a resolve to assert its claim towards becoming an Asian superpower. By opting to showcase its military prowess to the world, the Chinese armed forces have signalled that they have come a long way from what was essentially a rustic and bucolic 'Red Army' that waged a 'People's War' six decades ago. The modernisation programme undertaken by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) can be interpreted as the foundation of deterrence to attain the objectives of military strategy. Today,...

Through the Cold War years, the US nuclear strategy and arms control policies demonstrated diminutive concern over China's nuclear capabilities primarily since it did not figure as a major factor in the US nuclear calculus which, in any case, remained centred on Soviet nuclear arsenals. However, the end of the Cold War witnessed China increasing its regional influence on the plank of rising Chinese economic and military power and growing diplomatic and political interchange abroad. From Washington's perspective, Beijing showed a darker side in its dealings in the realm of proliferation and...

Tracing the genesis of the Senkaku Islands in the memoirs of history, and its potential future, in the backdrop of the East China Sea’s brewing dispute, this book chronicles the journey of Sino-Japanese relations in the explicit context of the Senkaku Islands. The evolving power transition dynamics in East Asia render Washington the lynchpin of Tokyo’s diplomatic and security strategy, and vice versa. Conversely, China is abrasively displaying an almost predictable geo-strategic pattern and strategy of enforcing territorial claims across Asia, keeping it just below the threshold of...