As Taiwan has slowly democratized, so has its intelligence and security system been transformed—yet issues of national identity and the conflict with China present continuing challenges.
Although 2008 was marked by democratic setbacks as well as authoritarian “pushback” against reformers, democracy remains the only system of government that commands global respect.
Strategies based on transition pacts that reduce rulers' risks and cushion their retreat from total power may be the most promising route to democracy in the Arab world.
