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Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Dennis E. Blasko. The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation For the 21st Century. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Jerremie Clyde, University of Calgary
Abstract
The Chinese Army Today provides a comprehensive and detailed description, as well as some limited assessment, of China’s current ground forces. Over the past 25 years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been increasing its efforts to reform and modernize all aspects of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The Chinese Army Today places the current PLA ground forces within the context of both the ongoing reforms and the traditions that continue to endure from its beginnings over seventy years ago. This is done through not only focusing on what the PLA is now, but also on the past six years of intensive changes and how they have shaped its membership, order of battle, missions, doctrine, equipment and training. Blasko paints the picture of a unique military force that has transformed itself in significant ways; aware of its own shortcomings, but with a clear plan in place to address them. For more than twenty years, the author served as a military intelligence officer and foreign area officer in the United States Army, specializing in China. He was also an army attaché in Beijing and Hong Kong from 1992 to 1996. Currently, he is a China Specialist for CNA Corporation’s Project Asia team. The author of several articles dealing with the PLA, this latest work makes a valuable contribution to PLA studies and clearly builds on some of those earlier publications