On March 12th, DEALLC Professor Mark Metcalf, a retired US naval officer, presented an invited lecture entitled "One Translation is Worth 1000 Opinions: The PLA considers the relevance of Sunzi (Sun Tzu) to modern warfare" to faculty and students at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

The presentation examined the various ways that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) applies Sunzi’s Art of War to modern warfare. Relying on recent PLA writings on the Sunzi, he explained why the PLA considers the ancient text to have contemporary military relevance and included a survey of various PLA publications that discuss how the Sunzi can be applied to modern warfare. The presentation concluded with examples of PLA applications of Sunzian precepts to modern warfare.

The lecture was based on observations from Professor Metcalf's course CHTR 3122/5122 "Sunzi and the Art of War."