CWP alum on the The Foundation for Defense of Democracies Podcast

Taiwan makes 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors — and China wants to take it without breaking it - using economic coercion if they can. If Beijing succeeds, the global tech economy becomes weaponized. FDD CCTI Senior Director and Senior Fellow RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and Stanford Hoover Institution Fellow Dr. Eyck Freymann break down the military, economic, and diplomatic strategies the U.S. and its allies must deploy right now to deter China — and what happens if they fail.

Defending Taiwan (Mark Montgomery feat. Eyck Freymann)

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan 501(c)(3) research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. FDD does not accept donations from any foreign governments. FDD conducts in-depth research, produces accurate and timely analyses, identifies illicit activities, and provides policy options — all with the aim of strengthening U.S. national security and reducing or eliminating threats posed by adversaries and enemies of the United States and other free nations. Founded shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, FDD conducts actionable research prepared by experts and scholars from a variety of backgrounds — including government, intelligence, military, private sector, academia, and journalism. It brings proficiency in foreign languages, law, finance, technology, and other skills to its work. FDD regularly provides open-source research and analyses to policymakers and the media. Since its founding, FDD has shared its expertise with the Bush, Obama, Biden, and Trump administrations and congressional offices on a bipartisan basis. In addition to its in-house experts, FDD collaborates with and seeks counsel from a range of distinguished advisors. FDD houses three Centers on American Power: the Center on Military and Political Power, the Center on Economic and Financial Power, and the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.

Eyck Freymann is a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University, where he directs the Allied Coordination Working Group. He is also a Non-Resident Research Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, the Institute of Geoeconomics in Tokyo, and the China Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College.

Dr. Freymann works on strategies to preserve peace and protect U.S. interests and values in an era of systemic competition with China. He is the author of several books, including the forthcoming Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China (Oxford, 2026), The Arsenal of Democracy: Technology, Industry, and Deterrence in an Age of Hard Choices (Hoover, 2025), and One Belt One Road: Chinese Power Meets the World (Harvard, 2021). His scholarly work has appeared in The China Quarterly and is forthcoming in International Security. 

Dr. Freymann comments on bipartisan national security issues in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Economist, War on the Rocks, The Wire China, and The Atlantic, among other venues. 

Before Hoover, Dr. Freymann held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and Columbia. He holds a doctorate from Oxford, masters degrees from Cambridge and Harvard, and a bachelors from Harvard, all in history and China studies.

Photo Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go8qM66N7Jk