Jonathan Sullivan is an Associate Professor in the School of Politics and IR at the University of Nottingham and previously Director of the China Policy Institute. Lev Nachman is an Assistant Professor in the College of Social Science at National Chengchi University, Taipei and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council and the National Bureau of Asian Research.

• 1. Why Taiwan matters2. Taiwan’s many histories3. Taiwan and the ROC4. Decided by the Taiwanese people5. One China, multiple considerations6. Sacred and inviolable7. The most dangerous place in the world?8. The politics of cross-Strait economics9. Who cares about Taiwan?10. Conclusion

To introduce Taiwan to as broad an audience as possible (and) to declare that concern about the “Taiwan issue” should be informed by a clear understanding of the place itself and the people who call it home - this is the spirit that animates Jonathan Sullivan and Lev Nachman’s recently published 'Taiwan: A Contested Democracy Under Threat'... as is still all too rare in global discourse about Taiwan, the authors' concern is for the people of Taiwan and their long-standing aspirations for self-determination... they convey a sense of open-endedness that contrasts with the narratives of inevitable annexation or permanent purgatory through which so many readers will have encountered Taiwan before.