Alan Wachman – Associate Professor of International Politics
Associate Professor of International Politics Alan Wachman focuses on Chinese foreign relations, Sino-US relations, Taiwan, and cross-Taiwan Strait Relations in his research. In 2008, he published an article in the journal China Security entitled, “Ensnared by Beijing: Washington Succumbs to the PRC’s Diplomacy of Panic.” His research on security issues in East Asia over the past several years culminated in a book titled “Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for China’s Territorial Integrity” published by Stanford University Press in 2007.
The book seeks to understand why the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been so determined that Taiwan be part of China. It begins by asking why, since the 1990s, has Beijing been feverishly developing means to prevail in combat with the US over Taiwan’s status? Why is Taiwan worth fighting for? To answer, Wachman focuses on the territorial dimension of the Taiwan issue and highlights arguments made by PRC analysts about the geostrategic significance of Taiwan. The book traces the evolution, explains the appeal, and suggests implications of the geostrategic calculations that pervade PRC strategic considerations of Taiwan.
In 2008, Wachman was awarded a grant to support research intended to result in a book about Mongolia's security since 1990. The book will emphasize the relationship between the People's Republic of China and Mongolia in the period since Mongolia became independent, examining Mongolia’s national security in the context of the PRC’s geostrategic worldview.
In the classroom, Wachman emphasizes the influence of the past on contemporary thinking about foreign policy—sometimes to indicate patterns of consistency, often to point out disjunctions. His courses highlight, as his publications do, the diplomatic and security dimensions of international interaction.