Other People's Wars: PLA Lessons from Foreign Conflicts

Abstract

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has not fought in a major war since 1979, but has studied the lessons of modern foreign conflicts from throughout the world. In some cases, those lessons have resulted in observable changes to the PLA's strategic, tactical, or operational posture. Conversely, what lessons from foreign conflicts the PLA has chosen not to explore may be equally illuminating for contemporary PLA watchers as they seek to better understand PLA self-perceptions, intentions, and doctrine. Although it is more difficult to observe what potential lessons the PLA has ignored, the absence of study may provide important clues into how the PLA views its current and future roles. This conference identified the need for further research analyzing how the PLA as an organization progresses from observing a lesson to implementing that lesson within its ranks. In only limited cases can a lesson observed by PLA leadership be conclusively linked to an actual adjustment made by the PLA.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA540665

Entities

People

  • Daniel Alderman
  • Joe Narus

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Afghanistan
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Combat Areas
  • Doctrine
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Aircraft
  • Military Forces (Foreign)
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Procurement
  • United States
  • United States Pacific Command
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Theoretical Analysis.