Air Sea Battle: A Case Study in Structural Inattention and Subterranean Forces. (January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Etzioni, Amitai
• Is Part Of: Armed forces and society. Volume 42:Number 1(2016:Jan.)
• Page Start: 169
• Page End: 191
• Publication Date: 2016-01
• Subjects: air sea battle -- China -- civil–military relations -- strategy; Sociology, Military -- Periodicals; Sociology, Military -- United States -- Periodicals; Armed Forces -- Periodicals; United States -- Armed Forces -- Periodicals; 306.27
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X14548717
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0095-327X

Abstract

In response to China's military modernization and growing anti-access/area denial capabilities, the US military has adopted an "Air Sea Battle" (ASB) concept entailing extensive strikes on the Chinese mainland. ASB has been embraced at the Pentagon and increasingly affects procurement decisions. Critics argue that ASB creates grave escalation risks and may incite an expensive arms race. Less discussed, but also of serious concern, is that ASB was adopted with little to no civilian oversight, in a case of "structural inattention." This failure of civil–military relations derives from institutional factors such as the nature and composition of the White House staff, as well as from the administration's pragmatic rather than strategic approach to China. It has also been facilitated by "subterranean factors" including the interests of influential military contractors and the military's own inclination toward conventional warfare.