Areas of Expertise: China; Asia and the Pacific; International Political Economy; Deterrence; Nuclear Policy; Missile Defense; German (Conversant); Mandarin (Fluent)
Dr. Phillip C. Saunders is Director of the INSS Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs and a Distinguished Research Fellow at National Defense University. He is also an Adjunct Instructor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He previously worked at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey from 1999-2003, where he directed the East Asia Nonproliferation Program in the Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and served as an officer in the United States Air Force from 1989-1993. Dr. Saunders received an A.B. in History from Harvard University and an MPA, MA, and PhD from the Princeton School of International and Public Affairs.
Dr. Saunders is co-author with Joel Wuthnow of China’s Quest for Military Supremacy (Polity Books, 2025) and with David Gompert of The Paradox of Power: Sino-American Strategic Restraint in an Era of Vulnerability (NDU Press, 2011). He has edited nine books, including Crossing the Strait: China’s Military Prepares for War with Taiwan (NDU Press, 2022) and The PLA Beyond Borders: Chinese Military Operations in Regional and Global Context (NDU Press, 2021). Dr. Saunders also edits the INSS China Strategic Perspectives monograph series and co-authored recent monographs on China’s Military Diplomacy (June 2025) and Discerning the Drivers of China’s Nuclear Force Development: Models, Indicators, and Data (July 2023).
Dr. Saunders has published articles in leading international relations, international security, Asian studies, and China journals including International Security, Journal of Strategic Studies, International Studies Quarterly, Survival, Joint Force Quarterly, China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, and Pacific Review. He recently published a guest essay “Xi Can’t Trust His Own Military” in the New York Times and has also written for Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, China Brief, The Diplomat, and The National Interest. His current research agenda includes projects on China-Russia military exercises, China’s nuclear modernization, U.S.-China strategic competition, and an edited book analyzing China’s strategic relationships.
Selected Publications
Books:
- Andrew Scobell, Arthur S. Ding, Phillip C. Saunders, and Scott W. Harold, eds., The People’s Liberation Army and Contingency Planning in China (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 2015).
- Phillip C. Saunders and Andrew Scobell, eds., PLA Influence on China’s National Security Policymaking (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2015).
- Richard P. Hallion, Roger Cliff, and Phillip C. Saunders, eds., The Chinese Air Force: Evolving Concepts, Roles, and Capabilities (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 2012).
- David C. Gompert and Phillip C. Saunders, The Paradox of Power: Sino-American Strategic Restraint in an Age of Vulnerability (Washington, DC: NDU Press, 2011).
- Phillip C. Saunders, Christopher Yung, Michael Swaine, and Andrew Nien-Dzu Yang (eds.), The Chinese Navy: Expanding Capabilities, Evolving Roles (Washington, DC: NDU Press, 2011)
- Roger Cliff, Phillip Saunders, and Scott Harold, eds., Cross-Strait Relations: New Opportunities and Challenges for Taiwan’s Security (Washington, DC: RAND, 2011).
Publications:
- Phillip C. Saunders, “Implications: China in the International System,” in Roy Kamphausen and David Lai, eds., The Chinese People’s Liberation Army in 2025 (Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, 2015), pp. 301-333.
- Phillip C. Saunders, “The Rebalance to Asia: U.S.-China Relations and Regional Security,” INSS Strategic Forum, No. 281, August 2013.
- Mark E. Redden and Phillip C. Saunders, “Managing Sino-U.S. Air and Naval Interactions: Cold War Lessons and New Avenues of Approach,” China Strategic Perspectives, No. 5, September 2012.
- Scott L. Kastner and Phillip C. Saunders, “Is China a Status Quo or Revisionist State? Leadership Travel as an Empirical Indicator of Foreign Policy Priorities,” International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 56. No. 2 (June 2012), pp. 163-177.
- David C. Gompert and Phillip C. Saunders, “Sino-American Strategic Restraint in an Age of Vulnerability,” INSS Strategic Forum, No. 273, January 2012.
- Phillip C. Saunders and Joshua Wiseman, “Buy, Build, or Steal: China’s Quest for Advanced Military Aviation Technologies,” China Strategic Perspectives, No. 4, December 2011.
- Michael Kiselycznyk and Phillip C. Saunders, Civil-Military Relations in China: Assessing the PLA’s Role in Elite Politics, China Strategic Perspectives, No. 2, August 2010.
- Phillip C. Saunders and Michael Kiselycznyk, Assessing Chinese Military Transparency, China Strategic Perspectives, No. 1, June 2010.