Air Force shuts down think tank on China's military

# Analysis The Air Force's closure of its China-focused think tank represents a significant retreat from public strategic analysis at a moment when understanding Beijing's military modernization is critical to defense planning. By eliminating this institutional capacity for independent research and external scrutiny, the service reduces both congressional and public ability to assess the credibility of threat assessments that shape multi-billion-dollar acquisition decisions and force posture around the Pacific. The move also weakens the intellectual infrastructure needed to challenge potential groupthink within Pentagon leadership—a particular risk when analyzing a rising military power whose capabilities remain subject to genuine analytical disagreement among experts. Without dedicated analytical capacity available to external audiences, policymaking becomes more insulated from informed debate, while allied nations and defense industry partners lose access to authoritative non-classified assessments that inform their own strategic choices.