The future of global democracy may hinge on a small island of 23 million people. Taiwan is more than the world's technology hub, producing over 90 percent of the globe's most advanced semiconductors. It also hosts a high-performance democracy, a vibrant civil society, and a population comfortable with religious, gender, and sexual diversity. Taiwan's education and healthcare systems command worldwide respect, and its political resilience inspires admiration across the democratic world. Yet China claims Taiwan as its own and applies relentless pressure through economic, diplomatic, and military means, stopping just short of open war. Against this backdrop, Taiwan's success as a democracy strengthens its resolve to resist coercion and inspires others to defend freedom. In Inspired by Taiwan, George S. Takach shows why Taiwan matters-to its own people and to the world-and why democracies everywhere advance their national interests when they support it. This is a call to recognize Taiwan not just as a strategic outpost but as a beacon for the global democracy project.
