Articles

Jun 22, 2026

By Joshua Arostegui

The contemporary discourse on drone-driven warfare rarely suggests the end of maneuver, but it highlights an increasingly perilous gap between tactical movement and force survivability in a hypertransparent environment. Against this backdrop, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s sustained commitment to amphibious armor invites examination of how a high-end force intends to bridge that gap in the contested littoral space.

Jun 2, 2026

By Jessica C. Liao and COL Kyle Marcrum

Taiwan's legislature spent six months blocking a major defense budget, then passed a scaled-down version days before the Trump-Xi summit. Jessica C. Liao and Kyle Marcrum argue why the story the US media tells is flawed.

May 6, 2026

By Erin Richter and Joshua Arostegui

This report outlines People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) recruiting processes within the overarching context of China’s military personnel accession systems. Within China, most recruitment, mobilization, and service assignment of military personnel is managed through a centralized national military service system, with individual services retaining some recruitment authorities for officers, sergeants, and civilians. It is not possible to effectively discuss Navy recruitment without understanding this overarching system.

Feb 11, 2026

China is furious about the United States’ recently announced $11 billion arms deal with Taiwan, and for good reason. Beyond simply comprising a significant assortment of military equipment, the package supports Taiwan’s developing asymmetric-warfare concept and effectively transforms Taiwan’s strike capabilities. Just as the rise of rocket artillery in Europe a few years ago challenged the assumed speed at which Russia could seize the Baltic states, the rocket and missile capabilities outlined in the new arms package fundamentally alter the calculus of a potential Chinese invasion across the Taiwan Strait. Specifically, the emerging capabilities, nested within an asymmetric-warfare concept, provide Taiwan the ability to increase survivability through dispersion, strike targets in China, and concentrate fires to frustrate nearly every step of an amphibious operation.

Feb 4, 2026

By Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Dr. Jake Rinaldi, and Bonnie Glaser

A conversation between Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Dr. Jake Rinaldi, and Bonnie Glaser on the risk of domestic social instability for Beijing if China attacked Taiwan. A podcast from The German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Jan 14, 2026

China’s newly released 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) proposal, unveiled after the Fourth Party Plenum in October 2025, not only marks Beijing’s quest to achieve the People’s Liberation Army’s goal of building a so-called world-class military by 2049. As the last major planning cycle before the 2035 benchmark for “basically achieving full modernization,” the plan also reaffirms General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core priorities: operational efficiency, technological self-reliance, and the Chinese Communist Party’s absolute command.

Jan 6, 2026

By Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Zack Cooper, Jake Rinaldi, Charlie Vest, Logan Wright, and Joel Wuthnow

Introduction by Bonnie S. Glaser: Research on the possibility and likely outcome of a conflict in

Nov 13, 2025

By Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Isaac B. Kardon, and Cameron Waltz

New data reveal how China’s foreign police training programs have become an integral part of Beijing’s strategy to remake global security.

Nov 7, 2025

By Kyle Marcrum

Executive Summary: • Xi Jinping could unveil a “global environmental initiative” as soon as mid-November 2025, at the COP31 summit in Brazil. This would align with previous initiatives that have been announced at international forums. • This new initiative would complete a set of five that matches the five strands in the initial rubric of the “Community of Common Destiny” concept, Beijing’s framework for a new approach to global governance. • The PRC will likely leverage a global environmental initiative and its significant economic advantages in green energy to expand international acceptance of their alternative global governance model.

Oct 27, 2025

By Joshua Arostegui and Jake Vartanian

This essay examines Xi Jinping’s dictum of creating a world-class military by 2049 and assesses the progress of the PLA ground forces toward achieving that notional benchmark.