Recent Publications

Exploring the “Right Size” for China’s Military: PLA Missions, Functions, and Organizations
February 1, 2007 — Authors: Mr Justin B Liang, Dr Sarah K Snyder On October 6, 2006, more than 60 leading experts on China's People’s Liberation Army (PLA) convened at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, for a two-day discussion of the drivers of PLA force modernization. The 2006 PLA Conference was co-sponsored by National Bureau of Asian Research and the Strategic... MORE

Budget Policy, Deficits, and Defense: A Fiscal Framework for Defense Planning
June 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Dennis S Ippolito The author focuses on the spending policy, deficit and debt, and retirement and healthcare entitlement dynamics that will make it difficult, if not impossible, to fund current defense plans. Transformational strategies, he concludes, must be adjusted to lower and more volatile future spending levels. The most important... MORE

Socio-Economic Roots of Radicalism?: Towards Explaining the Appeal of Islamic Radicals
July 1, 2003 — Author: Prof Alan Richards The author addresses the critical questions involved in understanding and coping with the roots of Islamic radicalism. He provides particular attention to the links between radicalism and a series of crises associated with modernization in the Islamic World. The result is a thoughtful and probing study including policy... MORE

The Lessons of History: The Chinese people’s Liberation Army at 75
July 1, 2003 — Authors: Ms Laurie Burkitt, Dr Andrew Scobell, Dr Larry M Wortzel With the armed forces of the People's Republic of China (PLA) celebrating its 75th anniversary on August 1, 2002, it only seemed appropriate and timely to take stock of the world's largest military. The PLA has officially been in existence for three-quarters of a century, and its... MORE

Transforming Defense an Era of Peace and Prosperity
December 1, 2001 — Author: Dr Conrad C Crane The ideas and issues presented in this collection of papers from the Twelfth Annual Strategy Conference conducted by the U.S. Army War College in April 2001 will educate and inform anyone interested in the past and future course of American defense reform. Though conference attendees had many differing opinions about the... MORE

People’s Liberation Army After Next
August 1, 2000 — Author: COL Susan M Puska The 1999 PLA Conference, which was hosted jointly by the American Enterprise Institute and the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute, convened September 10-12, 1999, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The goal of this conference was to comprehensively examine Chinese military modernization efforts. The... MORE

Chinese Army Building in the Era of Jiang Zemin
July 1, 2000 — Author: Dr Andrew Scobell To many in the United States, China looms large and threatening. This monograph attempts to answer, through an analysis of China's defense establishment under the leadership of Jiang Zemin, questions such as: What are the national security and national military goals of China's leaders? What strategies are Chinese leaders... MORE

The PLA and the Kosovo Conflict
May 1, 2000 — Author: Dr June Teufel-Dreyer The U.S. armed forces are not the only military that has sought to discern the lessons of the Kosovo campaign in the spring of 1999. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has also analyzed the conflict and drawn its own conclusions. In fact, as Dr. June Teufel Dreyer, Professor of Political Science at the... MORE

The Chinese Armed Forces in the 21st Century
December 1, 1999 — Author: Dr Larry M Wortzel This book is a serious look at the armed forces of China and how they will evolve.The chapters in this volume were developed from papers prepared for the eighth in a series of conferences on the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The people at the conferences were recognized experts on armed forces and security matters in... MORE

China’s Strategic Modernization: Implications for the United States
September 1, 1999 — Author: Major Mark A Stokes Conventional wisdom portrays the People's Republic of China (PRC) People's Liberation Army (PLA) as a backward continental force that will not pose a military challenge to its neighbors or to the United States well into the 21st century. PLA writings that demonstrate interest in exploiting the revolution in military... MORE