Defending Taiwan A Strategy to Prevent War with China

Sober, balanced, rigorously researched, and eminently readable, Defending Taiwan is a definitive guide to preventing World War III. Taiwan is arguably the most dangerous issue facing the United States. The Chinese Communist Party sees the island as an integral part of China and destined for reabsorption. For decades, American military strength has preserved peace and stability in Asia, but that advantage is eroding fast. China has found critical gaps in US strategy. It is working to squeeze, isolate, and coerce Taiwan into submission without firing a shot. If deterrence fails, and Taiwan falls, the consequences would be catastrophic--plunging the global economy into chaos, shattering US alliances, and allowing China to reshape the world order. In Defending Taiwan, Eyck Freymann presents the first integrated and actionable strategy to deter war with China over Taiwan while preserving an honorable peace. Drawing on untranslated Chinese sources, cutting-edge military and economic analysis, and deep historical research, Freymann argues that Washington's deterrence strategy must extend beyond military means or threats of nuclear or economic mutually assured destruction. America also needs a bold new vision of technological and economic statecraft--and it needs a plan to secure its vital interests if deterrence fails. Freymann examines China's full range of strategic options. He shows how the United States can deter them all by integrating its military strength, economic leverage, technological leadership, and diplomatic influence into a single, coherent plan to prevent war. This is not just a book about Taiwan. It is the first true grand strategy to ensure lasting stability in the US-China relationship. Urgent and indispensable, Defending Taiwan is the definitive guide to the most perilous geopolitical challenge of our time.

Eyck Freymann is a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University and a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the U.S. Naval War College, China Maritime Studies Institute. He is the author of The Arsenal of Democracy: Technology, Industry, and Deterrence in an Age of Hard Choices (Hoover, 2025) and One Belt One Road: Chinese Power Meets the World (Harvard, 2021). His writings have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, The Economist, War on the Rocks, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, and other venues. He previously held fellowships at Harvard and Columbia and holds four degrees in history and China Studies from Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard.