Publications

出版物
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East Asia in the Era of Unmanned Wars
The rising use of unmanned systems is reshaping Asia’s security dilemma in flashpoints like the Taiwan Strait.

Author

Tobias Burgers and Scott N. Romaniuk

How UAVs Could Spark a Military Conflict in the Taiwan Strait

Author

Tobias Burger, Scott Romaniuk (2021)

Description

This article discusses the emergence of unmanned and robotic (aerial) systems across the Taiwan Strait. The authors illustrate how the innovative use of unmanned systems, while at first beneficiary to either side's operations, actually increases the risk of miscalculation and creates the potential for an escalation spiral that could lead to the outbreak of sustained conflict across the Taiwan Strait. In this, the article connects with the broader research focus of the center on new(er) technologies, including AI, robotics, and cyber, and their impact on security dynamics and relations.

Is China Done With Salami Slicing? published in The Diplomat

Author

Tobias Burgers, Scott Romaniuk (2021)

Description

In this short article, together with co-author Dr. Romaniuk, the authors argue that recent Chinese foreign policy seems to have changed its modus operandi. For a considerable time, China’s foreign and security policy was centered around the tactic of salami-slicing – small, increasingly escalatory steps to increase pressure. However, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, China has changed to a more aggressive foreign policy approach in and around its periphery. Its new approach has the potential to increase security tensions across the region, further undermining trans-regional stability in the Asian Pacific.

China’s Dangerous Step Toward Cyber Conflict published in The Diplomat

Author

Tobias Burgers, David Farber (2021)

Description

In this short article, Dr. Burgers and Prof. Farber argue that the recent Chinese attack against the Indian power grid illustrates a clear escalation of Chinese cyber tactics. Using cyber means as part of a geopolitical conflict could herald the start of a new era of cyber conflict in which states, among them China, use cyber means as a new form of grey-zone conflict. In particular, the use of this tactic as part of larger geopolitical conflicts increases the risk for (unwanted) escalation.