Date of Graduation

Fall 2025

Degree

Master of Science in Defense & Strategic Studies

Department

School of Defense & Strategic Studies

Committee Chair

Jared McKinney

Abstract

Over the past ten years Taiwan has become a major point of friction between the United States and People’s Republic of China with both militaries preparing for a potential conflict over the island. China vastly expanded its military forces and capabilities over the past thirty years and is intent on obtaining the ability to both seize Taiwan by force and prevent the United States from generating enough combat power to intervene and defend the island. The Pentagon began to restructure its conventional forces in the Western Pacific at the end of the 2010s, implementing new operational concepts designed to fight in contested environments. This restructuring has provided Indo-Pacific Command a foundation for the joint force to build upon as China’s military capabilities and competencies grow in the future. INDOPACOM’s force posture, for the time being, is deemed “satisfactory.” In this context, satisfactory is defined as successfully countering China’s current iteration of its strategy of anti-access and area-denial, avoiding the majority of America’s combat power being attacked and destroyed before it could be utilized to defend Taiwan. There are still shortfalls in INDOPACOM’s posture, much of it revolving around the question of the sustainment of dispersed forces across the region, and the ability for traditional hubs of American power projection to defend themselves from Chinese attack. China too has shortfalls in their own conventional military capabilities, such as interoperability between the branches of the People’s Liberation Army in functioning as a joint force, or the lack of experience with certain branches in large scale exercises. However, these are variables that can be rectified with time, and the United States comparative advantage in experience and technologically advanced systems will continue to shrink as China continues to modernize. Going forward, the United States must embrace its lasting asymmetric advantages against China, primarily through geography and alliances. This thesis attempts to paint a picture of both America and China’s conventional military capabilities and strategy and offer insight in how to immediately address shortfalls in America’s approach to waging a high intensity conflict in the Western Pacific over Taiwan.

Keywords

INDOPACOM, China, Taiwan, Active Defense, People's Liberation Army

Subject Categories

Asian Studies | Defense and Security Studies | International Relations

Copyright

© Robert Burke

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