I truly believe the think tank community in Washington DC is one reason why the US Army has so much influence right now in the Pentagon. About 70% of the defense analysts in think tanks that focus on defense issues are veterans of the US Army, and it has been like that since around the time of Gulf War I.
It is probably a coincidence the Army has been fighting a land war in Asia for over a decade, and the Army has been fighting a second land war in Asia for almost a decade. Probably. And it is also probably a coincidence that the US Navy has been shrinking during that same time period.
Anyway...
The latest version of the Congressional Research Service report on China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (PDF) by Ronald O'Rourke has been posted to the FAS website. It takes me about a week to go through this document every year when it is published, so I may not discuss this quickly. One thing stands out though as I looked over the report the first time.
Not counting government sources, the brilliant Andrew Erickson is the most cited source in the report, but I note that Feng is the second most cited non-government source in the report. I think Feng is brilliant - obviously - but...
Why is Feng on Information Dissemination cited more frequently in a Congressional Research Service report on the topic of Chinese Naval Modernization than every think tank in Washington DC combined? Does the Navy employ all of the maritime specialists who work in DC think tanks?
I do not know the answer to those questions, but I do think they are the right questions.
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