"Wresting Back the Strategic Initiative in the South China Sea" panel

In this episode, #TeamKrulak was fortunate to host two distinguished guests to talk about the challenges facing the United States and its allies in the South China Sea. Dr. James R. Holmes is a professor of strategy, the inaugural holder of the J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy, and a two-time visiting professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College. He has published over 25 book chapters and 350 scholarly essays, along with hundreds of opinion columns, think-tank analyses, and other works. Dr. Holmes has been quoted or cited in outlets ranging from The Economist to Xinhua and appeared on such broadcast outlets as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, NPR, and the BBC. His most recent books are A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy and a second edition of Red Star Over the Pacific: China's Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy. Red Star Over the Pacific was named to the Navy Professional Reading List as Advanced Reading and was also selected for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Professional Reading Lists. Dr. Holmes is also a former U.S. Navy surface-warfare officer and combat veteran of the first Gulf War, where served as a weapons and engineering officer in the battleship Wisconsin. In this billet he held the distinction of being the last gunnery officer in history to fire a battleship’s big guns in anger. 

Hunter Stires is a Fellow with the John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research at the U.S. Naval War College and is a Strategy and Policy Professional at Cydecor supporting the OPNAV N522 Navy Warfare Group. His area of inquiry centers on strategy and logistics in the Western Pacific and maritime irregular warfare. Mr. Stires has been recognized twice in the U.S. Naval Institute’s General Prize Essay Contest.  His 1st prize winning entry is published as “The South China Sea Needs a ‘COIN’ Toss” in the May 2019 issue of Proceedings alongside a companion piece, “Why We Defend Free Seas,” and his 2nd prize entry, “Win Without Fighting,” is published in the June 2020 issue.  His related article, “’They Were Playing Chicken:’ The U.S. Asiatic Fleet’s Gray-Zone Deterrence Campaign against Japan, 1937-40,” is featured in the Summer 2019 issue of the Naval War College Review. His most recent Proceedings piece,  “Littoral Combat Ships for Maritime COIN,” coauthored with Captain Dan Straub, Ph.D, is published in the January 2021 issue. Mr. Stires is a graduate of Columbia University. 

Finally, our moderator is Dr. Lesley Wilhelm, from the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy – Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, who chaired our previous panel on the South China Sea on February 4.

Intro/outro music is "Evolution" from BenSound.com (https://www.bensound.com)

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