From Library Journal
This book follows established methods of military analysis to demonstrate that China's greatest threat to world peace is its poorly managed military bureaucracy. Karmel (London Sch. of Economics) uses China's public pronouncements, as well as internal documents, to assess the modernization of the Chinese military. He concludes that the army, in particular, needs a major overhaul. Karmel predicts that Chinese leader Jiang Zeming will be unable to stabilize the military sector or to alter Mao's conception of a People's Army that blends military and civilian functions. Karmel also presents, but does not expand upon, the idea that military generals and business managers have different webs of loyalty and that, as a result, military-run businesses are startlingly unsuccessful. However, his discussion of China's defense budget and military expenditures is well developed. Karmel's military analysis reaches a conclusion similar to that of Andrew J. Nathan and Robert S. Ross in The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress: China's Search for Security (LJ 7/97)--that China is unlikely to be an aggressive force in Asia soon. Recommended for military studies collections.
-Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
China and the People's Liberation Army defines great powers and developing states and suggests that the purposes of their militaries are fundamentally different. Solomon Karmel works to debunk frequently unquestioned myths about China's status as a great power. He employs extensive research of Chinese and foreign sources, secret and public, to understand shortcomings in the strategic, military, and industrial overhaul of China's military-industrial complex. His thematic framework and case study analysis have important implications for the study of developing-world militaries and East Asian security.
