Taiwan at the Fault Line

Can deterrence hold across the Taiwan Strait—without tipping into the war it is meant to prevent? Taiwan sits at the meeting point of history, geography, technology, and alliance politics—and a crisis there would reach far beyond the Strait. Coercion short of war, the credibility of American and allied commitments, the fragility of semiconductor supply chains, and the risk that preparation itself is mistaken for provocation: these are the fault lines this book maps. Dr. Zahir Hasan examines the uncertainties that most shape outcomes—escalation management, alliance decision-making in Washington and Tokyo, economic resilience, and the limits of analogies to Ukraine and past crises. Drawing on defense white papers, treaty law, and current scholarship on deterrence theory, he argues that peace in the Indo-Pacific depends on visible preparation before a crisis, not promises made after one has begun. Written for policymakers, students of international security, and general readers alike, Taiwan at the Fault Line does not predict war. It makes the case for taking the peace seriously enough to prepare for it.