Regional Issues - Category External Articles

Regional Issues

China Landpower Studies Center | June 5, 2026

The Z-21’s External Fuel Tanks Expand the PLAA’s Planning Options for He...

Joaquin Camarena

China Landpower Studies Center | June 2, 2026

Between Beijing and the Budget: The Domestic Realities of Taiwan’s Defen...

Taiwan's legislature spent six months blocking a major defense budget, then passed a scaled-down version days before the Trump-Xi summit. Jessica C. Liao and Kyle Marcrum argue why the story the US media tells is flawed.

China Landpower Studies Center | May 22, 2026

“An Enviable Position in the Pacific”: An interview with General Xavier ...

Guest host Tom Spahr and General Xavier Brunson, commander of United Nations Command, ROK-US Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea (UNC/CFC/USFK), discuss Korea, the Indo-Pacific, and mission command.

China Landpower Studies Center | May 20, 2026

Corruption and PLA Generals

Rick Gunnell

China Landpower Studies Center | May 15, 2026

Decoding China’s 15th Five-Year Plan

China’s latest Five-Year Plan signals that it has become more pessimistic about the global environment, seeing it as uncertain and unstable. However, the Chinese Communist Party sees opportunity in that instability to promote the Community of Common

Category: External Articles

More Than a Numbers Game: Comparing US and Chinese Landpower in the Pacific Requires Context
July 22, 2025 — As the US Army organizes, trains, and equips for an unforeseen future, service decisions should create or amplify relative operational advantages over the US military’s rising foe—the People’s Liberation Army. Discerning critical differences between American and Chinese land forces is a prerequisite for such efforts... MORE

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Weaponizing Risk: Recalibrating Western Deterrence
July 22, 2025 — Can NATO increase the risks and costs of war for an adversary without unduly raising the alliance’s own? Can the alliance strengthen the credibility of NATO’s extended deterrence through a proxy strategy of “waging war without going to war”? ... MORE

Slide for Weaponizing Risk: Recalibrating Western Deterrence

Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Technologies into Common Operating Picture and Course of Action Development
July 15, 2025 — Explore artificial intelligence’s potential for military planning! This study examines how artificial intelligence and machine learning can enhance the US Army’s common operational picture and course of action development. Learn how advanced technologies streamline decision making, improve situational awareness, and tackle resource challenges for the modern battlefield... MORE

Slide for Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Technologies into Common Operating Picture and Course of Action Development

Academic Year 2025–26 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment
July 9, 2025 — The United States faces a complex and ever-changing global environment. The Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment is designed to guide the collective defense community to research and write about critical national security challenges to help the Army prepare for a wide range of potential conflicts and threats... MORE

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Planning for Protracted Conflict With China: Five Questions to Ask
June 26, 2025 — Where and how a conflict starts will affect the kind of war it will be... MORE

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Parameters | Summer 2025
June 18, 2025 — Welcome to the Summer 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific Challenges, Russia-Ukraine Issues, and Historical Studies)... MORE

Assessing the PLA’s Strengths and Weaknesses for Achieving the PRC’s Goals
June 3, 2025 — This chapter examines the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) within the context of its modernization process and argues that the persistence of shortcomings may undercut the confidence senior leaders would prefer to have before deciding to initiate major combat... MORE

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Ecuador’s Incoming Government Faces Difficult Choices Regarding China
May 8, 2025 — With Daniel Noboa returning to the presidency and a new Chinese ambassador on the way, China-Ecuador... MORE

Ecuador’s Incoming Government Faces Difficult Choices Regarding China | R. Evan Ellis

Thompson’s Rifle Battalion: The Original Unit of the Army of the United Colonies (Now the United States Regular Army)
April 22, 2025 — Why is 1775 depicted on the official flag of the US Army? Why did Congress form the Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion as the first non-militia unit in the army of the United Colonies? Who was the battalion’s commander, William Thompson? What happened to Thompson and his rifle battalion during the rest of the American Revolution?... MORE

Thompson’s Rifle Battalion: The Original Unit of the Army of the United Colonies (Now the United States Regular Army) | John A. Bonin

Amid Trump Tariffs, Where Do China-Mexico Ties Stand?
March 24, 2025 — Mexico’s government is attempting to downplay its relationship with China to avoid Trump’s ire, but... MORE

Amid Trump Tariffs, Where Do China-Mexico Ties Stand? | R. Evan Ellis