Brian Hioe
Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan, edited by former Trump administration Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger, aims to exhort the United States and like-minded allies to proactively take steps to protect Taiwan. It’s a double-sided book—one part making the case that there’s an imminent threat, the other part actual proposals for Taiwan’s defense.
With recommendations from no less than former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a quote from the doyen of U.S.-China studies Orville Schell comparing Pottinger to Paul Revere, the book clearly aims to sound a clarion call over Chinese threats to Taiwan. It’s an agenda largely focused on raising the alarm in Washington—and which tends to overlook issues in Taiwan itself.
Pottinger’s background shapes his approach. He served as deputy national security advisor from September 2019 to January 2021 under the Trump administration, playing a key role in shaping hawkish policies. His career before that was an unusual one, spending seven years in China as a journalist before joining the U.S. Marine Corps as a military intelligence officer in 2005 and serving three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, Pottinger has since broken ties with his former boss, testifying against him over the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
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