2019 - 1st Quarter
The US and the Unraveling of Taiwan's Conundrum
Taiwan continues to be a major anomaly and conundrum of statehood in the modern world despite having been a de facto independent democracy for more than two decades. ...
Taiwan Can Reject Zhonghua minzu
"When I hear the word 'culture', that's when I reach for my revolver." So goes the mistranslated and often misattributed line from German playwright Hanna Johst's work, Schlageter. ...
Taiwan's Democracy is its Freedom
Begin with the fact that Taiwan is a de facto independent democratic nation. Taiwan could tout other facts and achievements. For example, its population is larger than about 70 percent of the nations in the UN to which it does not belong. Or that it has a higher GDP that 85 per cent of those UN nations that do not "officially" recognize it, yet over 148 give Taiwanese visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry and the Heritage Foundation ranks its economy as the 10th-freest in the world. However, most importantly, Taiwan is a de facto independent democracy. ...
Suvorov's Insights Suggest Taiwan be a Switzerland of the East
In the complex paradigmatic world of imagined communities, nationalism inevitably trumps ideology. However, in addition, both nationalism and ideology can be easy fodder for manipulation by unscrupulous megalomaniac leaders. ...