The China Challenge: Standing Strong Against the Military, Economic and Political Threats that Imperil America

by Dana R. Dillon

The phrase "rise of China" is used so often that it has become a cliché; nevertheless, China has been and will continue be a problem well into the future. The People's Republic of China is a hegemonic power in Asia and the rest of the world, and its newfound wealth propels the ambitions of China's leaders. Managing the relationship will occupy a considerable amount of American diplomatic and security resources.

Equally problematic is the fact that China's neighbors in Southeast Asia recognize the threat posed by China, but they do not want to see their region become a cockpit of a superpower struggle, and neither do they want to choose between neighboring China and the United States. The United States must craft a strategy of regional resilience for Southeast Asia that encourages economic growth, military reform, and democratic transformation that will enable the countries of Southeast Asia to resist Chinese pressures.

The purpose of The China Challenge is to take a new look at America's foreign policy in Asia and to provide policymakers with an insight―and solutions―to the myriad and densely interwoven issues that will confront the United States in the twenty-first century.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published February 25, 2007

About the author

Dana R Dillon served twenty years in the Army as an Infantry and Foreign Area Officer. Dana led an infantry platoon, commanded a company, and served on battalion, brigade, and division staffs. After eight very rewarding years, Dana transferred into the Foreign Area Officer program where he studied international relations and worked with foreign militaries. When Dana retired from the Army, he went to work as a national security and international policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation a Washington DC Think Tank where he published over 100 articles and a book The China Challenge: Standing Strong Against the Military, Economic and Political Threats that Imperil America. Additionally, he appeared many times on national news programs on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, NPR, VOA, and local TV and radio shows. After 9/11 he went back to work for the Army at the Pentagon where he currently serves as an intelligence analyst. In his profession, Dana studied the background and roots of many wars and revolutions noting the similarities in origins and goals across wide cultural gaps - knowledge he found relevant when studying the American Revolution. Dana has many fond memories of the Infantry and is sympathetic with his historical predecessors. Despite the warlike nature of his profession, Dana lives peaceably in Fairfax, Virginia with his true love, their children, and dogs.