By James R. Holmes
The U.S. shouldn’t unnecessarily antagonize China but it must underscore its capability and resolve to Beijing.
This week is graduation week in Newport, and that means it’s Current Strategy Forum (PDF) week in Newport. Household names have converged on the Naval War College. Yesterday, for instance, Robert Kaplan gave atour d’horizon of Eurasian security before turning to the South China Sea, the subject of his latest book Asia’s Cauldron. The Naval Diplomat will have more to say about that tomorrow or Friday. Cyber whiz Peter Singer (Wired for War) addressed the gathering Wednesday morning, to equal acclaim.
Dominating stories coming out of the forum, though, was an exchange between Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations—a.k.a. America’s top uniformed naval officer—and a student from our Intermediate Level Course. As USNI News‘s Sam LaGrone reports, the student asked how American naval professionals should discuss “tactics, techniques and procedures [on] how to counter Chinese ships and aircraft.” Should we do so in public? Admiral Greenert: “If you talk about it openly, you cross the line and unnecessarily antagonize.” Why be circumspect? Because “how much we trade with that country, it’s astounding.” Better to debate such matters in classified settings, deny that forcible-access strategies are aimed at China, and so forth.
Really? What we’re debating is the merits of speaking openly about challenges and, yes, threats — a threat being a prospective antagonist that combines capability with the resolve to use it in ways inimical to our, or our friends’, interests. And in a larger sense we’re debating how best to deter such an antagonist. This is Diplomacy 101.
Read the full story at The Diplomat