. Principally composed of the
.
as the farthest north-eastern first link in the chain. The first island chain forms one of three island chain doctrines within the
.
. The boundary between Okinawa and China lies between Japan and Taiwan.
. However this line of defense was
, thereby drawing the US into the war. The US subsequently launched the air
. The WW2 victory allowed the US to expand its line of defense further west to the coast of Asia, and thus the US controlled the first island chain.
'.
The
Island Chain Strategy is a strategy first mentioned by American foreign policy commentator
John Foster Dulles in
1951 during the
Korean War. It
suggests surrounding the Soviet Union and China by sea. The island chain concept did not become a major theme in American policy, but it has become a
major fixation of both American and Chinese analysts to this day. For the U.S. the island chain strategy is a big part of the military of the United States's force projection in the Eastern part of Asia. For Chinese, the concept is used as part of their
fears of encirclement by American forces. For both sides, the island chain strategy emphasizes the geographical and strategic importance of
Taiwan. The primary target of the doctrine was the USSR; however, additional targets also included the
People's Republic of China, Vietnam, and
North Korea. After the
USSR collapsed in 1991,
China soon became the major target of the doctrine.
In
2014 April, the
United States Naval Institute (USNI) assessed that the
first island chain is the most effective point to counter any Chinese invasion. The US could not only cut off the
People's Liberation Army Navy from entering the
western Pacific, but also predict where they may move before trying to break through in the first place. The US and first chain countries are able to coordinate because of the
US military's freedom of navigation in the first chain block. In
June 2019, USNI called for a
blockade of the first island chain if
armed conflict broke out between China and the United States.
Andrew Krepinevich argued that an
"archipelagic defense" of the countries that make up the first island chain would make up a big part of the implementation of the
national defense strategy of 2018.
A
2019 report by the
Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments "proposes a U.S. military strategy of Maritime Pressure and a supporting joint operational concept, “Inside-Out” Defense, to stabilize the military balance in the Western Pacific and deny China the prospect of a successful fait accompli." The first island chain plays a central role in the report.
In
2020, the
United States Marine Corps started shifting its tactics in conjunction with the
United States Navy to be deployed along or near the first island chain. In
2021, the United States Marine Corps announced a goal of three additional Pacific-based regiments.
In the first island chain,
Taiwan is considered of
critical strategic importance. It is located at the midpoint of the first chain and occupies a strategic position.
