By Bernard D. Cole, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2016)
China’s Quest for Great Power, the latest from Bernard D. Cole, is a combination of a high degree of knowledge about Chinese military and political strategy with some implicit recommendations for how the United States can deal with China’s ambitions. As Dr. Cole is a well-regarded scholar in Chinese naval affairs this volume could only come from someone with a high degree of familiarity with the published statements and papers of the PRC, as well as a high degree of insight and understanding into Chinese history and China’s contemporary situation with regards to internal and external factors. As a somewhat heavy policy brief, the book manages to be deeply insightful without being heavy-handed in its advice and recommendations. Rather than pursuing the goal of dealing successfully with regards to China in a ham-handed fashion, the author decided to lay China’s cards on the table as skillfully as possible and include some reasonable guesses where evidence is lacking. This allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about what can and should be done about China’s behavior. Continue reading