My “serious” reading often runs in cycles between wars of the past, wars of today, wars of the future, naval and land or air warfare, even space. The current flavor is modern day PRC.
In July 2022 I started down this path when I acquired Harold Buchanan’s new title, Flashpoint: South China Sea (GMT Games, 2022)—which didn’t really grab me—but then turned away for other interests. Now I’m back with two books by Ian Easton of the Project 2049 Institute. According to the Project website:
Ian Easton is a senior director at the Project 2049 Institute and author of The Final Struggle: Inside China’s Global Strategy. He also wrote The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia. He previously served as a visiting fellow at the Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA) in Tokyo, a China analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses in Virginia, and a researcher with the Asia Bureau of Defense News. Ian holds an M.A. in China Studies from National Chengchi University in Taiwan and a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He studied Chinese at Fudan University in Shanghai and National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei.
Project 2049 Institute – People
Funny (or not), the two books listed are the two books I recently acquired.
Easton, Ian. The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia. Manchester, United Kingdom: Eastbridge Books, 2019.
Though published in 2019 this book is still considered an excellent characterization of the threat.
Easton, Ian. The Final Struggle: Inside China’s Global Strategy. Manchester, United Kingdom: Eastbridge Books, 2022.
A relatively recent publication. Here is the back-of-the-book testimonial:
The Final Struggle shows, using the regime’s own words, how Beijing’s aspirations aren’t regional—they’re global, with grave implications not only for democracy, but for the centuries-old principle of national sovereignty.
Matt Pottinger, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor
It’s been a while since I put Flashpoint: South China Sea on the table. While I might grumble at how the theme was executed in the game, I believe the game mechanisms are well-polished. I sighted the game a few times at Circle DC 2023 and almost sat down and played. Maybe after reading Easton I will be in mood.
Now that I think about it, I really need to read the older title, The Chinese Invasion Threat, before my copy of Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific by Sebastian Bae (The Dietz Foundation, 2023) arrives any day now…
Feature image courtesy RMN
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