Modernizing China's Military: Progress, Problems, and Prospects

David Shambaugh, a leading international authority on Chinese strategic and military affairs, offers the most comprehensive and insightful assessment to date of the Chinese military. The result of a decade's research, Modernizing China's Military comes at a crucial moment in history, one when international attention is increasingly focused on the rise of Chinese military power. Basing his analysis on an unprecedented use of Chinese military publications and interviews with People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers, Shambaugh addresses important questions about Chinese strategic intentions and military capabilities—questions that are of key concern for government policymakers as well as strategic analysts and a concerned public.

"David Shambaugh has written the most in-depth and balanced assessment of the Chinese military available. It is likely to be the defining work on the subject for some time to come."—Robert S, McNamara, former United States Secretary of Defense and President of The World Bank

"The role of the Chinese military will be a determining factor in how China not only relates to the outside world (especially to the United States) but also how China itself evolves politically. Modernizing China's Military is a very important contribution to our enhanced understanding of a critically important trend in world affairs."—Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor and currently Counselor at the Center for Strategic &
International Studies

"David Shambaugh gives a lucid, comprehensive, and objective account of the substantial growth this past decade in the PLA. He includes an insightful summary of more than a century's history of the Chinese military as a basis for explaining many of the problems the PLA has had, and will continue to have, in its modernization. This should be read by those responsible for our national security as well as scholars of contemporary China."—William J. Perry, former United States Secretary of Defense and currently Professor at Stanford University.

"Shambaugh's analysis of China's military power at home and abroad is thoroughly comprehensive, meticulously researched and enriched by years of personal interviews in Bejing with top civilian and military security specialists. His reliability and objectivity enhances understanding of the military challenge China may project in the future."—Allen S. Whiting, Regents Distinguished Professor of Political Science (Emeritus) at the University of Arizona.

"For those who promote international security, facts can be elusive. Superb China hand David Shambaugh gives us his extensive research and incisive analysis of the PLA. A must read for anyone concerned with the U.S.-China relationship, and even more for those who make decisions affecting U.S.-China security."—Joseph W. Prueher, former Ambassador to the People's Republic of China and former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command

Foreign Affairs

This superb book provides an authoritative and comprehensive account of the attempt by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) to cope with the transformation in the strategic environment brought about by the unique power and the military technologies of the United States. The book covers all aspects of military affairs, from the PLA's position in the political system to budgets and procurement issues, as well as doctrine and force structure. Shambaugh also provides a cool analysis of the difficulties China would face in a war with Taiwan. He has amassed a remarkable amount of evidence, which allows him to draw careful but confident conclusions. In general he supports the view that China is still decades behind the United States in advanced technology, and in many areas the gap is widening, although he notes the recent efforts put into ballistic missiles and information technology. His basic message to the Bush administration: Keep watching and keep talking, but don't panic.

David Shambaugh is Professor of Political Science and
International Affairs and Director of the China Policy Program at the Elliott School of
International Affairs, George Washington University. He is also Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Program, at the Brookings
Institution. He has written and edited many books, including Making China Policy: Lessons from the Bush and Clinton Administrations (2001), The Modern Chinese State (2000), and The China Reader: The Reform Era (1999).