Recent Publications

China, the Illiberal Counter-Order, and the Role of Values in the Strategic Response
July 22, 2024 — The dynamics of the international order in the third decade of the 21st Century are changing profoundly. The magnitude and complexity of the change are illustrated by Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, in both its initial failure, and in the ability of the Putin administration in Russia to sustain its costly campaign. The new international... MORE

Decisive Decade: PRC Global Strategy and the PLA as a Pacing Challenge – 2023 PLA Conference – Updated and Expanded
April 17, 2024 — The US Army War College’s 2023 Conference on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was held February 22 to 24, 2023, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The conference, entitled “Decisive Decade: PRC Global Strategy and the PLA as Pacing Challenge,” featured presentations on PRC global and regional strategy, and the PLA’s enabling role by experts from a wide range of academic, media, and government agencies and organizations... MORE

China’s Security Engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean
February 26, 2024 — An overview of the characteristics and trends in China’s security engagement in the region, and how it is evolving. China’s activities in the security and defense sector in Latin America and the Caribbean are a small but strategically significant portion of its engagement with the region. Beijing has openly acknowledged its interest in engaging with the region on security matters in the 2008 and 2016... MORE

China’s Security Engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean
An overview of the characteristics and trends in China’s security engagement in the region, and how it is evolving.

China-Latin America Space Cooperation: An Overview
February 16, 2024 — As China has increased its political and economic cooperation with Latin America, it has also expanded its space engagement with the region.In September 2023, during a visit to China, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro announced an agreement in which China would transport Venezuelans to a research base it plans to build on the moon, the... MORE

China-Latin America Space Cooperation: An Overview
By R. Evan Ellis

As China has increased its political and economic cooperation with Latin America, it has also expanded its space engagement with the region.
https://thediplomat.com/2024/02/china-latin-america-space-cooperation-an-overview/

CMSI Note #4: Deck Cargo Ships: Another Option for a Cross-Strait Invasion
February 14, 2024 — CMSI Perspectives and Key Take-Aways: In addition to RO-RO ferries, the PLA also uses another class of RO-RO ship, the deck cargo ship, in sea transport training exercises. Deck cargo ships are widely used in China’s ocean engineering and construction industry, constituting an existing and large-scale volume of lift capacity. The simple design and... MORE

CMSI Note #4: Deck Cargo Ships: Another Option for a Cross-Strait Invasion | Authors Conor M. Kennedy

PRC Engagement with Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe: Comparisons and Insights
February 8, 2024 — PRC Engagement with Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe: Comparisons and Insights R. Evan Ellis Over the past twenty years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has expanded its political, institutional, economic, and other forms of engagement with all regions of the world. Not surprisingly, because engagement in Latin America and the... MORE

PRC Engagement with Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe: Comparisons and Insights | R. Evan Ellis

The Mixed Message About China's Economy
February 8, 2024 — Chinese Premier Li Qiang spoke this week at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, saying the Chinese economy was doing just fine. Signals out of Beijing have been conveying a different message.SHEENA CHESTNUT GREITENS: So I think that the idea that economic growth created the basis for stability for the Chinese Communist Party was the... MORE

The Mixed Message About China's Economy | NPR Podcast Appearance by Sheena Greitens

Strategic Implications of the Deterioration of the Rules-Based International Order
February 2, 2024 — The multiple crises currently playing out in Ukraine, the Middle East, the Taiwan straits, and even Guyana’s Essequibo region, reflect a deterioration of the rules-based international order that has served as the foundation for economic growth, technological progress, and the limitation of interstate conflict since the end of the Second World War... MORE

Strategic Implications of the Deterioration of the Rules-Based International Order | R. Evan Ellis

Would Venezuela Really Invade Essequibo?
December 4, 2023 — R. Evan Ellis | In the context of unfolding global conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and the dangers of an increasingly aggressive yet economically fragile People’s Republic of China (PRC), Venezuela’s provocative referendum on its claim to two thirds of the territory of neighboring Guyana has received understandably little attention in... MORE

By R. Evan Ellis
In the context of unfolding global conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and the dangers of an increasingly aggressive yet economically fragile People’s Republic of China (PRC), Venezuela’s provocative referendum on its claim to two thirds of the territory of neighboring Guyana has received understandably little attention in Washington, D.C.
Original background image from article: https://theglobalamericans.org/2023/11/would-venezuela-really-invade-essequibo/

The Impact of the Turn to the Left on the Advance of the People’s Republic of China in Latin
October 5, 2023 — R. Evan Ellis | This work uses the comparative method, complemented by quantitative data, to examine engagement by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Latin America as a function of government type, across a range of activities, including trade, investment, infrastructure projects, security relations, and technical architectures over the past... MORE

R. Evan Ellis
This work uses the comparative method, complemented by quantitative data, to examine engagement by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Latin America as a function of government type, across a range of activities, including trade, investment, infrastructure projects, security relations, and technical architectures over the past two decades. The findings indicate that the PRC establishes distinct and often broader forms of engagement with populist, anti-US governments, although this does not necessarily translate into a higher volume of PRC investment or overall trade with those governments. This is the first major work in the growing China–Latin America literature to explicitly analyze the dynamics of PRC engagement across regime type. It contributes to strategic analysis of the PRC challenge in the region by the operational force, including the identification of risks, and the formulation of responses, including credible messaging, in support of a coordinated whole-of-government response to the PRC challenge.

Read now: The Impact of the Turn to the Left on the Advance of the People’s Republic of China in Latin

Image adapted from FreePik (https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/coronavirus-map_7456298.htm)

Parameters | Autumn 2023
August 25, 2023 — A Historical Perspective on Today’s Recruiting Crisis | A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force | The Strategic Importance of Taiwan to the United States and Its Allies: Part Two – A Focus on Policy since the Start of the Russia-Ukraine War | The Impact of Antarctic Treaty Challenges on the US Military | US-Russia Foreign Policy: Confronting Russia’s Geographic Anxieties |... MORE

Parameters | Autumn 2023

From the Acting Editor in Chief
Conrad C. Crane
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/8

In Focus
A Historical Perspective on Today’s Recruiting Crisis
Brian McAllister Linn
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/9

Parameters | Autumn 2023
A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force
Katie Crombe and John A. Naglhttps://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/10

Strategic Challenges
The Strategic Importance of Taiwan to the United States and Its Allies: Part Two – A Focus on Policy since the Start of the Russia-Ukraine War
Luke P. Bellocchi
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11

The Impact of Antarctic Treaty Challenges on the US Military
Ryan J. Bridley and Kevin W. Matthews
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/12

US-Russia Foreign Policy: Confronting Russia’s Geographic Anxieties
Caitlin P. Irby
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11

Historical Studies
Urban Resistance to Occupation: An Underestimated Element of Land Warfare
Kevin D. Stringer and Jelle J. H. Hooiveld
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/14

The Chechen Kadyrovtsy’s Coercive Violence in Ukraine
Wilson A. Jones
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11=5

SRAD Director’s Corner
US Army War College Russia-Ukraine War Study Project
Eric Hartunian
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/15

Autumn Book Reviews
USAWC Press
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/16

Mexico’s Engagement with China and Choices for its Future
August 11, 2023 — R. Evan EllisAs Mexico looks to national elections in June 2024, the expanding engagement that the country is backing into with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will have profound implications for the country’s future, as well as the United States and the rest of the region.BackgroundMexico’s relationship with China has always been complicated... MORE