The Ma Ying-jeou presidency in Taiwan (2008–2016) is often heralded as an era of détente in relations across the Taiwan Strait. Long-standing political tensions were eased through the joint promulgation of over 20 economic agreements and people-to-people interactions. But warmer ties were replaced by a comparative cooling in the cross-Strait relationship after Tsai Ing-wen took office in May 2016, returning Taiwan to its place as one of Asia's most volatile flashpoints. The essays in this edited volume seek to explore the security and/or globalization dimensions of cross-Strait ties, highlighting new or emerging dynamics which continue to impact the relationship in the Taiwan Strait.

The introduction, by editors Monique Chu and Scott Kastner, sets out the book's multidisciplinary approach to understanding the complexities of the China–Taiwan relationship. With a thematic focus on the shifting military balance of power in the Taiwan Strait and the globalization of cross-Strait ties, each subsequent essay seeks to address issues which often remain overlooked in studies of cross-Strait relations. Globalization, which references both the increased economic and social interactions in the Strait as well as broader global patterns, is juxtaposed alongside traditional and non-traditional threats to Taiwan's security. The text is made immediately accessible to the non-Sinophile with a historical background of cross-Strait relations. But rather than rehashing age-old arguments on various facets of the Taiwan Strait security dilemma, the chapters which follow explore issues ranging from the prospects for conflict in the Taiwan Strait to cyber power and transnational criminal networks, all of which tend to be neglected in existing scholarship. Taken in sum, the volume offers an important contribution to the existing field of cross-Strait political and security studies.

Chu and Kastner divided the volume into three parts, focusing on the security relationship in the Taiwan Strait, the effects of economic globalization, and the interaction between security and globalization. Each part is further divided into theoretically-oriented and policy-oriented chapters, an intentional pairing which honours the volume's multidisciplinary approach and applicability. Yu-Shan Wu begins by employing alliance and strategic triangle theories of international relations to assess Taiwan's adoption of a hedging strategy. Taipei has sought to benefit from close economic ties with Beijing, but must also balance against the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) growing capabilities – a risky strategy that also requires Taipei's close management of the US–Taiwan relationship. One of the most interesting chapters of the book is Scott Kastner's examination of the prospects for conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Based on the bargaining model of war, Kastner teases out five mechanisms that could trigger conflict due to either information or credible commitment problems. Chapters four (William S. Murray) and five (Andrew Scobell and Cortez Cooper) take an empirical approach to examining Taiwan's increasing security challenges in countering PLA naval and air capabilities.

The first chapter on the role of economic globalization in the context of cross-Strait relations (Peter C. Y. Chow and Bo-Xiang Hsu) examines the role of economic liberalization in influencing a non-traditional security concern, namely income distribution in Taiwan. The authors rely predominantly upon outward foreign direct investment, capital flows and Gini coefficient datasets from 1985 to 2010. Chow and Hsu suggest that Taiwan's tax policies and social programmes have limited the effects of globalization on income inequality, even as greater global economic integration will increase the burden on fiscal policy. This is followed by Monica Yang's chapter on China–Taiwan cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs), an issue with little rigorous analysis in cross-Strait studies. Building on CBMA data from Thomson Financial Corporation and financial newspapers between 1997 and 2010, Yang finds that CBMAs from China to Taiwan increased in number despite stringent restrictions from the Taiwanese government prior to the Ma-era détente. She further highlights an important difference in CBMA strategy: for China, firms seek strategic assets while for many Taiwanese firms, efficiency and market access drive business decisions. Like the previous section, both chapters offer applicability to policymakers regarding Taiwan's fiscal, investment, and/or national security policy.

In the final section of the volume, authors survey the interaction between security and economic globalization in the cross-Strait relationship. Justin V. Hastings explores the understudied issue of transnational illicit networks, assessing the impact of Ma-era engagement with Beijing on enabling criminal networks. Amid an increased number of cross-Strait law enforcement cooperative mechanisms, criminal networks have expanded after the initiation of the san tong direct transportation links. The following chapter (Paul J. Bolt and Benjamin Shearn) investigates the role of cyber power and the utility of cyber compellence, deterrence and coercion in the cross-Strait security relationship. Bolt and Shearn highlight the uncertainties inherent in the application of cyber tools as a potentially complicating factor in maintaining deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. The final two chapters link traditional security concerns with the contemporary cross-Strait relationship, examining the impact of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry's relocation en masse to China (Monique Chu) and the evolution of China's defence industry as a result of economic globalization (Arthur S. Ding).

Taken in sum, each chapter advances the reader's understanding of how the cross-Strait relationship is simultaneously characterized by rapid globalization and persistent security challenges. No two chapters are alike in methodology or argument, yielding an intellectually diverse and stimulating text. Overall, this volume convincingly advances our understanding of cross-Strait security relations amid globalization, offering an important contribution at the nexus of academic research and policy. Some chapters apply theoretical analyses to security issues; others offer analyses of understudied facets of the cross-Strait relationship or link economic globalization and security challenges. Globalization and Security across the Taiwan Strait is accessible and likely to be an important resource for students, academics and policy practitioners seeking to understand the immediate past as a tool for the present-day relationship between China and Taiwan.