China's Maritime Gray Zone Operations

Andrew S. Erickson is professor of strategy in the Naval War College (NWC)’s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) and an associate in research at Harvard’s Fairbank Center. The recipient of NWC’s inaugural Research Excellence Award, he runs the China studies website www.andrewerickson.com.Ryan D. Martinson is an assistant professor at CMSI. He holds a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a Bachelor of Science from Union College. Martinson has also studied at Fudan University, the Beijing Language and Culture University, and the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.

An essential read for those seeking to understand and achieve the type of asymmetric offshore counter balancing that regional powers with the U.S. are likely to require if they are live long and prosper alongside the Dragon's den."—The NAVY"China's naval operations in the maritime gray zone 'patient, purposeful, relentless' embody Maoist patience, buying time to maneuver from a position of relative weakness to one of strength. The papers collected in this new work, China's Maritime Gray Zone Operations, can help us better understand this maneuvering and meet the challenges the West already faces challenges that only will grow as China's naval strength and presence grow."—Naval War College Review"The book edited by Andrew S. Erickson and Ryan D. Martinson on Chinese maritime operations which they label as operating in the ‘gray zone’ is a first rate piece of work…. I would highly recommend reading this important book and thinking through what it teaches us, or challenges us to think about in terms of the much broader spectrum of crisis management we are facing."—Defense.info"An excellent book about the growing aggressive behaviour of China´s Gray Zone Strategy. It can give some impetus for a still needed European discussion about this Region of concern for the world."—Deutsches Maritimes Kompetenz Netz"China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations offers the reader a brilliant opportunity to traverse contemporary considerations of the South China Sea’s gray zone mechanism…. The reader can use the publication as a jumping-off point to dive into the lesser told but indeed rich history of gray zone operations exercised elsewhere around the world. Highly recommended reading."—Australian Naval Institute"China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations offers the reader a brilliant opportunity to traverse contemporary considerations of the South China Sea’s grey zone mechanism…. Highly recommended reading."—The Naval Review