Toshi Yoshihara
Toshi Yoshihara is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and he previously held the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies at the U.S. Naval War College where he taught strategy for over a decade. Dr. Yoshihara has served as a visiting professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, the School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California, San Diego and the U.S. Air War College.
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Articles by Toshi Yoshihara
Trouble Finding Partners: Barriers to China’s Overseas Basing
Introduction As the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) goes global, it will increasingly need reliable access to overseas bases and dual-use facilities to sustain operations in faraway theaters. Recent U.S. defense
Chinese Nuclear Weapons Strategy—Leaning Towards a More Proactive Posture? Part II: External Drivers of Potential Change—Technical-Military Developments and Perceptions of Credibility
Introduction A diverse range of external stimuli, including technological trends and geopolitical shifts, is leading the strategic community of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to reconsider existing nuclear policy,
Chinese Nuclear Weapons Strategy—Leaning Towards a More Proactive Posture? Part I: Legacy Policy and Strategy, and the Drivers of Potential Change
Authors’ Note: This is the first part of a two-part article addressing the evolving character of Chinese strategy and policy regarding the role and potential use of nuclear weapons. This
Defending the Strait: Taiwan’s Naval Strategy in the 21st Century
The Taiwan Navy can no longer keep up with a Chinese military that commands vast material preponderance, both quantitative and, increasingly, qualitative. It should no longer try. Nevertheless, the strategic
Ryukyu Chain in China’s Island Strategy
In late August the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) intend to stage their first-ever island defense exercises in December. The maneuvers will be held
The Japanese Archipelago through Chinese Eyes
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) forces took to the East China Sea in late June for live-fire maneuvers. These naval exercises were widely interpreted as expressions of preemptive Chinese
Taiwan’s Navy: Able to Deny Command of the Sea?
The first installment of this series on the Republic of China Navy (ROCN), or Taiwan Navy, presented a skeptical assessment of the ROCN’s ability to fulfill the expansive requirements set
Taiwan’s Navy: Still in Command of the Sea?
The Republic of China Navy (ROCN), or Taiwan Navy, has an ambitious vision for its future strategy. According to the “ROC Navy Vision,” which is available on the Navy’s website,
Is China a “Soft” Naval Power?
China created a stir late last year when it announced that the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) would commence policing the Gulf of Aden for Somali pirates. Two PLAN destroyers
A Chinese Turn to Mahan?
Robert Kaplan proclaims that “the Chinese are the Mahanians now,” enamored with the fin de siècle American sea captain who exhorted seafaring nations to amass international commerce, merchant and naval