Steve Chan and Cal Clark place Taiwan's developmental experience in the context of contemporary theories from several social science disciplines, and explain the seemingly exceptional performance of this island nation on a number of policy dimensions such as economic growth, political stability, social equality, welfare provision, and military security. The authors utilize both qualitative historical analysis and quantitative econometric modelling, and underscore the key concepts of flexibility, foresight, and fortuna as an explanation of Taiwan's relatively unusual success in achieving domestic development and upward mobility in the international system.