Red Star Over the Pacific, Third Edition

Toshi Yoshihara is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He was the inaugural John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies and a professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College. He holds a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He lives in Vienna, Virginia.James R. Holmes is the inaugural holder of the J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the U.S. Naval War College and previously served on the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs. A former U.S. Navy surface warfare officer, he earned a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He lives in Barrington, Rhode Island.

“The third edition of Red Star Over the Pacific is the essential guide to understanding China’s quest for sea power—and what it means for the U.S. and our Navy–Marine Corps team. Drawing directly from Chinese political and military sources, and informed by four decades of U.S. maritime strategy and the Navy’s recent combat experience in the Red Sea, Yoshihara and Holmes offer a clear-eyed assessment of today’s maritime competition. This latest edition deserves the widest possible readership.”—Adm. Phil Davidson, USN (Ret.), 25th Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command“It is tough to overstate just how great this third edition of Red Star over the Pacific is. Yoshihara and Holmes chart the evolution of China’s maritime power from emerging challenger to peer competitor while assessing the implications for U.S. strategic interests. Reaffirming the judgment of earlier editions—that strategy, not spending, must lead—this volume offers a disciplined methodology for designing a foundational maritime strategy commensurate with the stakes.Reaffirming the judgment of earlier editions—that strategy, not spending, must lead—this volume offers a disciplined methodology for designing a foundational maritime strategy commensurate with the stakes.”—Adm. Scott Swift, USN (Ret.)“With worldwide commitments that strain resources, the United States still faces an expanding Chinese navy, merchant marine and overwhelming shipbuilding industry. The authors, in this third edition, earnestly strive to keep America’s focus on and promote understanding the rise of Chinese maritime power as the prime threat to U.S. global supremacy.”—Seapower“Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany reputedly ‘devoured’ Alfred Thayer Mahan’s great opus: The Influence of Seapower on History 1660 – 1783 when it was first published in 1890…Red Star over the Pacific is similarly a book which should be ‘devoured’. It objectively examines and analyses the most significant maritime strategic influence in the Asia-Pacific with global overtones: the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) holistic sea power ambitions and capabilities across naval, constabulary and maritime militia strategies, operations and tactical developments.”—Australian Naval Institute