Under the Nuclear Shadow: China's weapons in the Information Age

Event Date: 29th April 2025
Location: Internet, 17:00 BST

  FEATURED | PERRY WORLD HOUSE EVENT Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Weapons in the Information Age Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | Perry World House 

How can states use military force to achieve their political aims without triggering a catastrophic nuclear war? Among the states facing this dilemma of fighting limited wars, only China has given information-age weapons such a prominent role. While other countries have preferred the traditional options of threatening to use nuclear weapons or fielding capabilities for decisive conventional military victories, China has instead chosen to rely on offensive cyber operations, counterspace capabilities, and precision conventional missiles to coerce its adversaries. China’s distinctive post–Cold War deterrence strategy can be framed as “strategic substitution.” When crises with the United States highlighted the inadequacy of China’s existing military capabilities, China pursued information-age weapons that promised to rapidly provide credible leverage against adversaries.

Beijing is using information-age technologies that are reshaping how states gain leverage in the twenty-first century. Despite these advances, China’s has an uncertain future as other states might seize upon the promise of emerging technologies to address weaknesses in their own military strategies.

At this event, Fiona Cunningham will discuss her book, Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security.

Perry World House will give out free copies of the book to the first 25 Penn students.