In The Struggle for Taiwan, Sulmaan Wasif Khan delivers a trenchant historical corrective to the dangerous narratives shaping the U.S.-China-Taiwan standoff. Drawing on his authority as an Associate Professor of International History and Chinese Foreign Relations at Tufts University’s Fletcher School and author of Haunted by Chaos, Khan systematically dismantles the "bizarre mix of lies, amnesia, and half-truths" employed by both Beijing and Washington. He argues this distorted history fosters a perilous faith in deterrence, demonstrating across 80 years of history that past standoffs were averted less by strategy than by sheer luck—a crucial lesson lost on today’s policymakers. The book challenges readers to confront the crisis beyond the headlines: Why are common historical justifications so misleading? What pivotal “roads not taken” might have secured a different fate for the island? And most urgently, how is a deep understanding of this past essential to averting a catastrophic future?
