Right Sizing the People's Liberation Army: Exploring the Contours of China's Military

The U.S. Army War College and the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) are two organizations with which I have a strong connection. I was in the class of 1976 at Carlisle and I currently serve on the Board of NBR where I am closely aligned with the Strategic Asia Program. As such I was quite pleased when the NBR joined the continuing efforts of the U.S. Army War Colleges Strategic Studies Institute to study developments in Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) as cosponsors of the 19th PLA Carlisle Conference from October 6-8 2006. Right-Sizing the Peoples Liberation Army: Exploring the Contours of Chinas Military is the ninth volume in this series published by the Strategic Studies Institute and represents the collective scholarly efforts of those who contributed to the 2006 conference. The book addresses how the leadership of China and the PLA view what size of PLA best meets Chinas requirements.