Measuring Taiwan’s Power and Resilience: Capabilities, Strategic Culture, and Geopolitical Agents amid Cognitive Warfare

Abstract The power projection of Taiwan/the Republic of China ( ROC ) is constrained by many factors, including its geographical setting. In this context, it matters to investigate whether ROC geopolitical agents ( GA s) are taking sufficient steps to transform potential into power, thereby ensuring the resilience of the society. We hypothesize that the role of GA s may be of greater weight in foreign policy outcomes than the literature on structural approaches suggests. As an alternative to conventional wisdom, this paper examines the policies of ROC related to overcoming vulnerabilities in potential. Our analysis shows that although ROC GA s have been working to overcome such vulnerabilities, their approach has not been successful for two main reasons: firstly, measures taken so far have not been designed to face the scenario of a complete blockade of Taiwan and, secondly, these GA s do not wish to be perceived by the public as overreacting to military threats.