This course examines the growing strategic competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It encompasses topics such as the history of strategic competition, PRC doctrine and strategic thought, the domains of warfare, how different combatant commands approach strategic competition, deterrence, and the Taiwan scenario. Students will come away from the course with a firm grounding in strategic competition, Chinese strategy, the U.S. approach to competition, and why Taiwan and Southeast Asia will likely remain the key flash point over the next decade.

Writing, briefings, and class discussion are the pillars of this course. Students are expected to have read all assigned readings and come to class prepared to discuss them. Students will practice two types of writing in this course: five 1-page policy memos and one 10-12 page lessons learned report. Additionally, students will be required to develop a competition campaign plan based on an assigned scenario, brief a panel of general officers on the plan, and then implement the plan during a four-day tabletop exercise.