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To be fair, if not for said neighbor, Taiwan wouldn't even exist as a separate entity.

I'd say that the bigger obstacle for the Persians were various Central Asian peoples, who conquered Iran in successive waves for several centuries on end.

Korea had the makings of a global power, had it not been squashed between the Chinese, Japanese, and Manchus.

There's nothing to "restore", though. The royal family had been in power for five centuries...

You do realize that the birthrate in America was ridiculously high, right? If anything, the high American birthrates contributed to the country's economic success- the costs of child rearing weren't nearly as steep as today, and there certainly wasn't any danger of a Malthusian collapse. I doubt...

Columbus was stocked with a year's worth of supplies for a journey that took roughly a month. His crew would have mutinied (which they very nearly did) long before they would have starved to death.

Most slave owners owned more than one slave, and they regularly bought and sold slaves from each other.

Well, isn't this why the OP posited that it would be spread by slave-owners? That's a pretty massively connected network of sexual contact, as you put it.

I've got to wonder whether or not Japanese cultural influence on Korea might not be heightened if Japan hadn't colonized Korea and pursued friendly relations.

Honestly, that sounds like a better legacy than being known for impaling your own subjects...

The reputation of Jesuits were torture-happy religious fanatics seems particularly undeserved. The fact that they prosecuted "heretics" who were mostly converted Muslims and Jews is probably a part of why they're seen so dimly. Doesn't really matter how "fair" they are if their main purpose was...

Except in the 16th century, the Chinese aren't seen as "uncivilized". Increased contact with European Christendom through Jesuit translations of Chinese texts will only make it more and more clear that China is in fact part of the "civilized world".

I've got to wonder whether the "immunity" brought from exposure would really be worth it in the long run. I mean, plague was still killing millions of people into the early 20th century despite how long Eurasian societies were exposed to it. Far more important to long-term native success is...

Africa (as in the former Roman province of Africa) was already taken by the Norman Sicilians in the 12th century OTL. Didn't last though.

Ir doesn't even necessarily have to be Quebec- it could always be parts of Mexico or even Cuba instead.

Why not just have the US annex Quebec, then? The US becomes multicultural by default with the inclusion of a region with a robust population of non-English speakers.

Though mentioned in passing already, I'd say the biggest answer was the Columbian exchange. The introduction of New World crops allowed for previously marginal land to be cultivated, and with it brought significant increases in population.

Would love to learn more about the Emirate of Sicily (and tangentially, the Arabization of North Africa).

Japanese junior officer corps deliberately disobeying orders from both command and civilian government, effectively seizing control of the government and starting a war while being heralded as heroes, rather than getting arrested and executed for treason. Though given that the war they started...

Jesus becomes another failed messianic figure along the lines of Bar Kokhba. He dies in ignominy and his followers are scattered to the winds. The movement does not take root in either the Jewish community or among the Romans.