Troubled Waters: China's and Russia's Naval Modernizations Programs, and the Causes of Offensive Naval Arms Race
Journal: Wellesley College Digital RepositoryWellesley (Wellesley College)
Year: 2018

Scholars, policymakers and the public alike have debated the revisionist or status quo intentions of China and Russia using metrics such as territorial and economic expansionism. However, few have tried to explain why the two states’ arms policies may or may not signal intentions. This thesis project makes the point that structural factors, not intentions, drive offensive arms races. Using open-source databases and congressional hearing transcripts, I focus on Russia’s and China’s maritime push