Recent Publications

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

Slide for Planning for Protracted Conflict with China: Five Questions to Ask

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

Slide for Assessing the PLA’s Strengths and Weaknesses for Achieving the PRC’s Goals

China Landpower Studies Center Newsletter II
May 20, 2025 — In our second newsletter, we will share the China Landpower Studies Center (CLSC) team’s latest analysis and insights on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)... MORE

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 relations are at an inflection point.From April 22-25, I had the opportunity to travel to Quito, Ecuador, to address an international forum on China and Latin America, held by the prestigious San Francisco of Quito University and FLACSO Ecuador. My... MORE

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

China’s Coming Diplomatic Blitz in the Americas
May 8, 2025 — The next few months will bring a series of high-profile multilateral engagements between China and Latin American countries, as Beijing seeks to capitalize on discontent with Trump.In the coming three months, China will have a number of opportunities to advance its multilateral engagement with the Americas, leveraging discontent among many... MORE

China’s Coming Diplomatic Blitz in the Americas | R. Evan Ellis

Transnational Organized Crime in Mexico and the Government’s Response
April 29, 2025 — The US government threats of tariffs on the Mexican government if it did not do more to control illicit fentanyl flows into the United States have cast new attention on the growing problem of transnational organized crime that has wrought violence and corruption at all levels in Mexico. This work, based on the authors research in interviews with... MORE

Transnational Organized Crime in Mexico and the Government’s Response | R. Evan Ellis

Waging War without Disruption: China’s People’s Armed Police in a Future Conflict
April 24, 2025 — As one of the three branches of China’s armed forces, the People’s Armed Police (PAP) (人民武装警察) operates alongside the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) (人民解放军) and the militia (民兵) as a key instrument of Chinese Communist Party power. According to the Science of Military Strategy, a foundational textbook used to educate senior Chinese military officers, the People’s Armed Police is tasked with meeting the strategic requirements of “multi-functional integration, stability and rights maintenance” (多能一体，维稳维权)... MORE

Waging War without Disruption: China’s People’s Armed Police in a Future Conflict | Jake Rinaldi

LTG Matthew McFarlane: Commanding General of America's First Corps
April 14, 2025 — Today we are talking with Lieutenant General Matthew McFarlane, the commanding general of America's I Corps, headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Having served with distinction at all levels of the Army and Joint Force, he now leads the Army's senior tactical headquarters in the Indo-Pacific. Today we'll be chatting about his views of the operational environment and the hard work the Corps is doing across the Indo-Pacific... MORE

CLSC Dialogues | Commanding General of America’s First Corps

How Chinese Leaders Conceptualize Protracted War
April 11, 2025 — You're listening to CLSC Dialogues, a China Landpower Studies Center production. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guests and are not necessarily those of the Department of the Army, the U.S. Army War College, or any other agency of the U.S. government. I’m Jake Rinaldi, a defense analyst at the China Landpower... MORE

CLSC Dialogues – Ep 21 – Dan Rice – How Chinese Leaders Conceptualize Protracted War

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 ties continue beneath the surface. In the beginning of March 2025, I traveled to Mexico to speak with a range of officials and experts about activities by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and its companies in the country, among other topics.In... MORE

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

North Korea in Ukraine: Analyzing Authoritarian Cooperation
March 18, 2025 — The deployment of North Korean forces to Ukraine marks a critical inflection point in global security dynamics, challenging long-held assumptions about the limits of cooperation between authoritarian states. This development, unprecedented in its implications, reveals even absent formal alliances or ideological cohesion, the strategic realignment among authoritarian states has the potential to reshape the global order and future conflicts... MORE

North Korea in Ukraine: Analyzing Authoritarian Cooperation
Jake Rinaldi

The Impact of China on US Interests in Latin America
February 21, 2025 — President Trump’s statements regarding the influence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the Panama Canal, and the focus on the issue as part of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s February 2025 trip to Central America and the Caribbean have focused U.S. and global attention on the strategic importance of the challenges posed by PRC in the... MORE

The Impact of China on US Interests in Latin America | R. Evan Ellis