Defending Taiwan: Strategy, Deterrence, and the Future of the Indo-Pacific

4 credits · Graduate

This seminar puts students in the decision-maker's seat on the most dangerous flashpoint in U.S. foreign policy: a potential crisis over Taiwan. Working through the political, military, economic, and strategic dimensions of deterrence, students produce policy memos, defend their ideas under pressure, and sit a comprehensive oral exam. The goal is not to memorize facts but to internalize concepts, stress-test them, and learn to represent the strongest version of arguments you may disagree with. Inspired by the Oxford and Cambridge tutorial system, you will read a lot and write relatively little, but to a higher standard. Expect to be cold-called. The core skill trained is oral communication under pressure: bottom line up front, options and tradeoffs, in disciplined one-to-two-minute units.