In the past decade, tensions in Asia have risen as Beijing has become more assertive in maritime disputes with its neighbors and the United States. Although taking place below the threshold of direct military confrontation, China's assertiveness frequently involves coercive elements that put at risk existing rules and norms; physical control of disputed waters and territory; and the credibility of U.S. security commitments. Regional leaders have expressed increasing alarm that such "gray zone" coercion threatens to destabilize the region by increasing the risk of conflict and undermining the rules-based order. Yet, the United States and its allies and partners have struggled to develop effective counters to China's maritime coercion. This study reviews deterrence literature and nine case studies of coercion to develop recommendations for how the United States and its allies and partners could counter gray zone activity.

Michael Green has written extensively on Nevada and Las Vegas, including their connections to organized crime, in books and articles. His Nevada: A History of the Silver State is the first completely new Nevada textbook in 25 years and a Choice academic selection. He has appeared as an on-camera expert for PBS's History Detectives Special Investigations and Al Capone: Icon, for AMC's The Making of the Mob: New York and The Making of the Mob: Chicago, and The Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum, among others programs. In addition to teaching courses on the subject(s) of organized crime and Las Vegas, he is a member of the board of directors and chair of the content committee for the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, better known as The Mob Museum, in Las Vegas. At its opening ceremony, the museum's executive director said it would have been impossible to open the museum without his work on it. Green is Associate Professor of History at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He earned his PhD at Columbia University.