Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security

by Fiona S. Cunningham

How and why China has pursued information-age weapons to gain leverage against its adversaries

How can states use military force to achieve their political aims without triggering a catastrophic nuclear war? Among the states facing this dilemma of fighting limited wars, only China has given information-age weapons such a prominent role. While other countries have preferred the traditional options of threatening to use nuclear weapons or fielding capabilities for decisive conventional military victories, China has instead chosen to rely on offensive cyber operations, counterspace capabilities, and precision conventional missiles to coerce its adversaries. In Under the Nuclear Shadow, Fiona Cunningham examines this distinctive aspect of China’s post–Cold War deterrence strategy, developing an original theory of “strategic substitution.” When crises with the United States highlighted the inadequacy of China’s existing military capabilities, Cunningham argues, China pursued information-age weapons that promised to rapidly provide credible leverage against adversaries.

Drawing on hundreds of original Chinese-language sources and interviews with security experts in China, Cunningham provides a rare and candid glimpse from Beijing into the information-age technologies that are reshaping how states gain leverage in the twenty-first century. She offers unprecedented insights into the trajectory of China’s military modernization, as she details the strengths and weaknesses of China’s strategic substitution approach. Under the Nuclear Shadow also looks ahead at the uncertain future of China’s strategic substitution approach and briefly explores too how other states might seize upon the promise of emerging technologies to address weaknesses in their own military strategies.

Genres: China

400 pages, Hardcover

Published January 7, 2025

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great use of authoritative Chinese source material to deliver insight on the history of Chinese strategic thinking in developing NC3, cyber, ASAT, and long-range conventional strike capabilities. Not entirely sold on theory of developing conventional capabilities with the potential for escalation to the nuclear level is not.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine reference on how China has developed advantages in missiles, cyber and ASAT weapons to compensate for other capability deficiencies. The book’s argument is simple and coherent. The book’s prose is repetitive and academic.

[Kean Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting first two chapters then got really draggy later on

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it had so much potential… this book is so repetitive it was hard to get through. While there was some research throughout, it was mostly the author pontificating kind of obvious points.