Fire on the Water, Second Edition

When RobertHaddickwroteFire on the Water,firstpublished in 2014, most policy experts and thepublicunderestimated thethreat China's military modernization posed tothe U.S. strategic position in theIndo-Pacific region.Today,therapid Chinese military buildup has many policy experts wondering whetherthe United States and its allies can maintain conventional military deterrence in the region,and thetopicis central to defense planning in the United States. In this new edition,Haddickargues thatthe United States and its allies can sustain conventional deterrence in the face of China's military buildup.However, doing so will require U.S. policymakers and planners toovercomeinstitutional and cultural barriers to reformsnecessary toimplementa new strategy for the region. Fire on the Water, Second Editionalsopresentsthe sources of conflict in Asia and explainswhy America's best option is to maintain its active forward presence in the region.Haddickrelatesthe history of America's military presence in the Indo-Pacific andshowswhy that presence is now vulnerable.The author detailsChina's military modernization program, how it is shrewdly exploiting the military-technical revolution, and why it now poses a grave threat to U.S. and allied interests.He considersthe U.S. responses to China's military modernization over the past decade anddiscusseswhy these responses fall short of a convincing competitive strategy. Detailinga new approach for sustaining conventional deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region,the authordiscussesthe principles of strategy as they apply to the problems the United States faces in the region.Heexplainsthecritical role of aerospace power in the region andargues thatthe United States should urgently refashion its aerospace concepts if it is to deter aggression, focusing on Taiwan, the most difficult case.Haddickillustrateshow the military-technical revolution has drastically changed thepotential of naval forces in the Indo-Pacific region and why U.S. policymakers and planners need to adjust their expectations and planning for naval forces. Finally,heelucidateslessons U.S. policymakers can apply from pastgreat-power competitions, examines long-term trends affecting the current competition, summarizes a new U.S. strategic approach to the region, describes how U.S. policymakers can overcome institutional barriers that stand in the way of a better strategy, and explains why U.S. policymakers and the public should have confidence about sustaining deterrence and peace in the region over the long term.