Timothy L. Thomas

The metaphor "recasting the red star" emphasizes the changing nature of Russia's military which still relishes its legacy. For nearly a century, the Red Star has been a symbol of Russia's armed forces, which are still regaining their strength as they emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Despite failed reform initiatives, and Russia's two wars fought against Chechen extremists and the war fought against Georgia over South Ossetia, the military is advancing and modernizing. Its weaponry and equipment updates represent responses to the perceived impact of information-age technologies on military affairs. Russia's military leaders have integrated these digital processes into their operational art and strategic planning. Further, they've reorganized the military and launched a serious campaign against corruption in the force. This book tracks the modernization through three threads of tradition, technology, and toughness, with the latter thread represented by the staunch support that President Dmitriy Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov have provided the reform effort.… (altro)

This was a very detailed look at advances in Chinese capabilities in information warfare. The stength of this book lies in the fact that the author bases his conclusions exclusively from Chinese open source material, to include a look at how Taiwan views this growing threat.
From the Foreword: "Chinese observations of warfare in the information age have results in a widespread transformation and metamorphosis of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) from a mechanized to an informatized force. This transformation has affected nearly every aspect of China's military from strategy to logistics to educational development.
"The Dragon's Quantum Leap intends to peel back the transformation process and uncover the impact of new modes of thought on several key segments of military development (culture, strategems, crisis management, deception, and reconnaissance among other elements) that digital age thought is affecting. It exapdns the scope but not the basic theoretical theme of the author's two previous works on Chinese information warfare concepts..."… (altro)