Dragon Extends Its Reach : Chinese Military Power Goes Global

China has evolved from a nation with local and regional security interests to a major economic and political power with global interests, investments, and political commitments. It now requires a military that can project itself around the globe, albeit on a limited scale, to secure its interests. Therefore, as Larry M. Wortzel explains, the Chinese Communist Party leadership has charged the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with new and challenging missions that require global capabilities.

Advances in technology and the development of indigenous weapons platforms in China, combined with reactions to modern conflicts, have produced a military force very different from that which China has fielded in the past. Wortzel presents a clear and sobering picture of the PLA’s modernization effort as it expands into space and cyberspace, and as it integrates operations in the traditional domains of war.

This book will appeal to the specialist in security and foreign policy issues in Asia as well as to the person interested in arms control, future warfare, and global military strategies. The book puts China’s military growth into historical context for readers of recent military and diplomatic history.

LARRY M. WORTZEL spent much of his thirty-two-year military career in the Asia-Pacific region, including two tours of duty as a military attaché in China. He served as director of the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College and, after retirement, as Asian studies director and vice president at the Heritage Foundation. For over a decade he has been a commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is the author or editor of ten previously published books about China. He lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.