How to Prevent a War with China Over Taiwan

Even though China is the main global competitor to the United States, has there has been sufficient planning in Washington on how the U.S. might respond to aggression against the island of Taiwan by Beijing? Eyck Freymann wants to make sure there is. He joins Colin Kahl on World Class to discuss his new book, Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China, which outlines how the U.S. can integrate its military strength, economic leverage, technological leadership, and diplomatic influence into a single, coherent plan to prevent war.

Eyck Freymann is a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University, where he directs the Allied Coordination Working Group. He is also a non-resident research fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, the Institute of Geoeconomics in Tokyo, and the China Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College.

His latest book, Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China is available from Oxford Academic Press.

This episode's reading recommendation is "A New Era of U.S.-China Interaction: From Competing to Racing" by Evan S. Medeiros, published on April 17, 2026 in Asia Policy.

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