Reconsidering the PLA as an interest group / Phillip C. Saunders and Isaac B. Kardon -- The PLA in the party leadership decisionmaking system / Alice Miller -- The riddle in the middle : China's Central Military Commission in the twenty-first century / Tai Ming Cheung -- Top leaders and the PLA : the different styles of Jiang, Hu, and Xi / Nan Li -- The PLA role in China's foreign policy and crisis behavior / Michael D. Swaine -- The PLA role in China's Taiwan policymaking / Bonnie S. Glaser -- The PLA role in China's DPRK policy / Andrew Scobell -- The rise of PLA diplomacy / Eric Hagt -- The PLA and national security decisionmaking : insights from China's territorial and maritime disputes / M. Taylor Fravel -- The PLA navy lobby and its influence over China's maritime sovereignty policies / Christopher D. Yung -- The PLA and maritime security actors / Linda Jakobson.