April 18, 2017
What America Can Learn from China’s People’s Liberation Army
President Trump recently called for a $54 billion increase in military spending to “send a message to the world… of American strength, security, and resolve.” The U.S. defense establishment is currently grappling with how these additional funds should be spent to achieve the stated objective. Merely investing in increasing the size of our forces is ineffective. Instead, the United States must prioritize modernizing its capabilities to meet new types of threats. As the United States advances down this path, it could look towards an unlikely source for inspiration: the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). China watchers around the world continue to characterize the PLA as a “paper tiger”, but the United States could stand to learn a thing or two about force modernization from its Asian counterpart.
China’s last major conflict with a foreign adversary, its failed offensive in the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese war, led foreign commentators and military experts to deem the PLA a “ragtag” military that was disorganized and underfunded. Generally, the PLA lacked the technology and organizational wherewithal needed to fight even the smallest of adversaries. Today, the PLA has undergone massive military modernization efforts. They still note that the PLA is “not ready” to fight in a modern war due to technological gaps in China’s air defense, the nature of the bureaucratic and corrupt Chinese state, and its lack of combat experience.
Read the full article at The National Interest.
More from CNAS
-
Will Europe Send Combat Forces to Ukraine?
Commentary
Any idea that Europe could deter Russia from breaking a cease-fire and renewing its attack with the presence of a light peacekeeping force is fantasy....
By Franz-Stefan Gady
-
There Is Still Much To Know About Drone Sightings on the East Coast
Podcast
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Stacie Pettyjohn of the Center for a New American Security, about why the federal government hasn't provided more details about drones spotted ove...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Defense Expert Weighs In on Mysterious Drone Sightings
Video
Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at the think tank Center for a New American Security, discusses the drone sightings, which some officials are calling "a slig...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Trump 2.0 and Security in Asia
Video
Donald Trump is bringing his "America First" agenda back to U.S. foreign policy. What could this mean for Japan and the partners in Asia? Akira Igata, an Adjunct Senior Fellow...
By Akira Igata
