This paper attempts to catalogue and describe the known models for interagency cooperation for stabilization and reconstruction (S&R) operations. The models in existence and under discussion can be grouped in terms of their focus on different aspects of the interagency process, as well as on different aspects of S&R. We recognize that S&R operations take place in an international arena, hence have limited the focus of this paper on models that address how the United States Government (USG) should achieve unity of effort. Defining an efficient, commonly understood model to guide USG actions is a necessary first step to coordinating S&R operations with other international, national, and non-governmental actors.

The probability of conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan has diminished in recent years. The chief potential flashpoint for war, a Taiwanese declaration of independence, has become less likely as Taiwan's independence movement has waned and economic ties with the mainland have strengthened. Should the independence movement in Taiwan regain political momentum, however, the potential for U.S. military intervention in the Taiwan Strait would increase. Further, the perception of U.S. vulnerability in the region could invite assertiveness. So, despite the fact that armed conflict between the United States and China is in no one's interest, China's burgeoning power requires that critical factor sin U.S. plans for the defense of Taiwan be examined. This collection of essays offers just such an examination. It looks at China's growing strength, the strategies underlying U.S. plans for military intervention in the Strait, U.S. vulnerabilities, and options for how these vulnerabilities might be overcome through the development of new technologies and strategies. The U.S. defense commitment to Taiwan, thought tacit and conditional, has been a long-standing strategic constant. America's ability to prevent the invasion or coercion of Taiwan, however, is more variable. As the Defense Department's most recent report to Congress on Chinese military power indicates, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has embarked on a concerted effort to modernize, with the goal of being able to conduct (and counter) the sort of rapid, precise, information-intensive operations of which the U.S. military is now capable. Of particular concern in a Taiwan scenario is China's growing ability to track, target, and destroy U.S. carrier strike groups (CSGs), which are the fulcrum of American military strategy in the region. The Defense Department reports that the PLA is focused on targeting surface ships at long ranges, perhaps as far as the "second island chain," east of Japan and as far south as Guam. China is amassing the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (SR) and strike assets needed to conduct long-range precision attacks. These growing capabilities are coupled with PLA doctrine that emphasizes preemption and surprise attack; the potential significance of this turn of thought was underscored by China's January 2007 demonstration of antisatellite weapon. China's growing capabilities demand that the United States carefully review the evolving military balance in the western Pacific and consider the implications for further strategy. Each essay addresses a key part of the Taiwan intervention puzzle. The compilation moves from an overview of U.S. strength and China's growing military abilities (Gompert); to two pieces on China's present and future military technology (Cheung) and personnel (Lo) resources; to an examination of a particular threat to U.S. regional power, China's improving ISR capabilities (Mulvenon); to a review of U.S. maritime (McDevitt) and aerial (Shlapak) strengths and vulnerabilities; to a piece on how some aerial vulnerabilities could be allayed with UAVs (Libicki); to an analysis of U.S. options to better deter Chinese aggression (Gompert and Long); to a forward-looking article on how a new U.S. fleet architecture could change the balance of power in a Taiwan Strait conflict (Johnson).

Compiled to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing security environment, this important collection grew out of an innovative Department of Defense (DOD) workshop. The book’s purpose is to examine strategic trends, their defense relevance, how they may overlap to produce strategic “shocks”—such as the launch of Sputnik and the fall of the Berlin Wall—and how the United States might prepare for such events to mitigate risks and capitalize on opportunities. From a broad range of backgrounds, distinguished authors work from the premise of the six trend categories identified by DOD: conflict; demographics; economy; environment; culture, identity, and governance; and science and technology. Another group of regional experts considers these six categories in the context of their respective regions: Africa, China, Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia and Eurasia, South Asia, and Latin America. Looking insightfully at broad trends, Fighting Chance goes well beyond the obvious dangers they might pose in order to warn of future perils—and to suggest opportunities.