In recent years the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has relinquished much of its political power to China's civilian leadership and has turned to the task of professionalizing the military. The transition of the PLA into a relatively apolitical force in Chinese society has occurred alongside great progress toward military modernization, with the foundation now laid for the PLA to become one of the world's most powerful military forces. Dr. Bullard traces the PLA's extremely important and almost revolutionary transition, examines the structural changes associated with it, and assesses current military policies and trends. He discusses in detail the political commissar system, the key institution for all political-military relationships in the Chinese military system.

One critical facet of Taiwan's extraordinary development is conspicuously absent from nearly all studies of its recent history: the role of the military in the nation-building process. In this important study, a soldier-citizen describes the role of the Republic of China's military in the political socialization of Taiwan's citizens during the first two decades after the Nationalists' defeat on the Chinese mainland. The book describes in detail how the military was used by the government to promote patriotic values throughout the society, often going beyond what is considered part of the military-commission. Colonel Bullard coins the term "allegiance warfare" to describe the politically neutral involvement of the military in creating and maintaining nationalistic citizen values throughout the society.

"Soldier-citizens" describes the role of the Republic of China's military in the political socialization of Taiwan's citizens during the first two decades after the loss of the Chinese mainland. This book describes in detail how the military was used by the government to promote patriotic values throughout society, often going beyond what is considered part of its military mission.