This study seeks to understand the future direction of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) with regard to out of area deployments and power projection. The assessment is based on the history of past PLAN out of area deployments and an analysis of out of area operations of other military forces. Both short- and long-term lenses are employed to understand the scope and direction of China's defense planning and strategic decisions.

"December 2010"--T.p. "Center for Strategic Research, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University"--Cover.

Introduction -- Approach and methodology -- Organization -- Sources -- History and case studies -- Other military case studies -- Analysis -- Strategy, operations, and policy.