So which country is more important to U.S. national security interests, Taiwan or South Korea? The truth is they both are. The United States must be able to support the defense of both. If commentators like Colby argue that Washington cannot do both, then the U.S. military must be reformed to be able to do both. It may very well be able to do so with the support of friends, partners, and allies. Prioritizing one over the other will likely result in sacrificing both. And to publicly prioritize one over the other and telegraph that priority is a political warfare blunder and simply invites conflict.

About the Author: David Maxwell 

David Maxwell is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel who has spent over thirty years in Asia, specializing in Northeast Asian security affairs and irregular, unconventional, and political warfare. He is the Vice President of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy and a Senior Fellow at the Global Peace Foundation (where he focuses on a free and unified Korea). He is a member of the board of directors of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and the editor of Small Wars Journal.