Taiwan is the 21st century equivalent of West Berlin—a small democratic enclave surrounded by an authoritarian power with global strategic implications—and the US and its allies must maintain commitment to Taiwan's defense with the same resolve shown in the Berlin Airlift and Cold War confrontations.

A successful PLA military invasion of Taiwan would result in a geostrategic loss in a vital area, boost Xi Jinping's authoritarian model, likely enable military breakout to other regional countries, result in massive economic sanctions impact (estimated at 2.5 trillion dollars according to State Department), and disrupt the global semiconductor supply chain with implications exceeding the Ukraine invasion's economic impact.

Three levels of deterrence can prevent a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan: Taiwan's ability to defend itself (the porcupine strategy), US military presence and power projection (historically effective in 1950s, 60s, and during 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis), and coordinated economic and financial sanctions by the US and allied nations representing 70 percent of global economy, which would provide the most important deterrent.

Senator Dan Sullivan made a first deployment as a US Marine to the Taiwan Strait during 1995-96 (the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis), where he served as a young first lieutenant infantry officer on a Marine Amphibious Ready Group, and President Clinton sent two carrier strike groups and an amphibious ready group to demonstrate US commitment and resolve with 1,200 US Marines ready to defend Taiwan.

Senator Sullivan served as National Security Council director under Condoleezza Rice as National Security Advisor, then as one of her assistant secretaries when she was Secretary of State, and considers her one of his best bosses and mentors, representing continuity of US commitment to Taiwan and security policy through multiple administrations.

The Taiwan Relations Act (1980) was a remarkable piece of foreign policy legislation in which the US Senate, led by Democrats and Republicans (84 Senators including a young Senator Joe Biden), rejected President Carter's plan to abandon Taiwan after normalization with Beijing, reasserting Congressional power and establishing enduring US commitment to Taiwan's defense.

Authoritarian regimes under Putin and Xi Jinping are increasingly working together to achieve aggressive goals, driven by historical grievances and paranoia about democratic neighbors, and are willing to use military force and aggressive actions to crush democratic citizens of neighboring countries.

The US has extraordinary advantages relative to Russia and China: a global network of allies, lethal military force, world-class supplies of energy and natural resources, a dynamic high-tech economy, and most importantly, democratic values and commitment to liberty—which authoritarians fear because their weakness is that they fear their own people.

Authoritarians on the march rarely see their appetite diminish after each military success; instead, their appetite normally increases, as exemplified by the pattern that if China successfully takes Taiwan, they will use that military capability against the next country