Through his latest book "The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East", Kishore Mahbubani (KM), foreign policy maestro of Singapore and currently Dean of the LKY School of Public Policy, has spoken on something many in the diplomacy circles would rather not openly say - that the West needs to open its eyes, ears and mind to the fact that Asia is rising and is going to be a participant (and cease to be a spectator) in the global arena of power, politics and people.
The West is great - no doubt about that. The West gave us philosophy, technology and (might I add) democracy - things that gave the individual freedom over his or her destiny, in a way. (Of course, past Asian and Islamic civilisations had all these and more before the advent of the modern West.) These developments culminated in the term "modernisation" which basically refers to the standard of life that the West has attained. But times are changing.
KM speaks at great length on the fact that previously, the West (which comprises mainly countries such as the US, UK, the European Union) had taken the rest of the world for a ride in making the major decisions that affected mankind:
"For most of the previous three centuries, the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America were objects of world history. The decisions that drove history were made in a few key capitals, most often London, Paris, Berlin, and Washington, DC. The misnamed World War I and World War II were carried out without consulting the majority of the world's populations. They were co-opted into fundamentally European wars - at least until Japanese aggression appeared in China and the Pacific. Today, the 5.6 billion people who live outside the Western universe will no longer accept decisions made on their behalf in Western capitals."
KM then argues that we are at an era where the West's domination (not power) has ceased, but the West has not grasped this idea. He then goes on to cite examples where the West has demonstrated incompetence in handling global crises and prefers to follow ideology where pragmatism should prevail. He also explains at length, the failure of the US to follow the rule of law in the global arena. He notes that the most glaring example of this was the illegal Iraq War, when US administration decided to attack Iraq against the explicit decision made by the UN Security Council forbidding the war.
The book is packed with examples and most importantly, KM's personal experiences and insights gained from an extensive career in the foreign service. His credibility allows him to come to conclusions which most of us would be hard-pressed to find backing for.
However, I don't think all Western intellectuals are blind to the rising power of Asia. Many of them are aware of the rising of Asia, but the voices of the ignorant are the loudest, amplified by the Western media, naturally.
KM definitely has risked alienating a great many of his contacts and friends by writing this book. He doesn't condemn the West per se, but simply says that the West has to change its mindset to accept Asia into its worldview, in some strong and definitive language. You almost want to clap and cheer, being an Asian, when reading this book. Definitely a good read if you want to spend some time trying to make sense of the world.
The West is great - no doubt about that. The West gave us philosophy, technology and (might I add) democracy - things that gave the individual freedom over his or her destiny, in a way. (Of course, past Asian and Islamic civilisations had all these and more before the advent of the modern West.) These developments culminated in the term "modernisation" which basically refers to the standard of life that the West has attained. But times are changing.
KM speaks at great length on the fact that previously, the West (which comprises mainly countries such as the US, UK, the European Union) had taken the rest of the world for a ride in making the major decisions that affected mankind:
"For most of the previous three centuries, the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America were objects of world history. The decisions that drove history were made in a few key capitals, most often London, Paris, Berlin, and Washington, DC. The misnamed World War I and World War II were carried out without consulting the majority of the world's populations. They were co-opted into fundamentally European wars - at least until Japanese aggression appeared in China and the Pacific. Today, the 5.6 billion people who live outside the Western universe will no longer accept decisions made on their behalf in Western capitals."
KM then argues that we are at an era where the West's domination (not power) has ceased, but the West has not grasped this idea. He then goes on to cite examples where the West has demonstrated incompetence in handling global crises and prefers to follow ideology where pragmatism should prevail. He also explains at length, the failure of the US to follow the rule of law in the global arena. He notes that the most glaring example of this was the illegal Iraq War, when US administration decided to attack Iraq against the explicit decision made by the UN Security Council forbidding the war.
The book is packed with examples and most importantly, KM's personal experiences and insights gained from an extensive career in the foreign service. His credibility allows him to come to conclusions which most of us would be hard-pressed to find backing for.
However, I don't think all Western intellectuals are blind to the rising power of Asia. Many of them are aware of the rising of Asia, but the voices of the ignorant are the loudest, amplified by the Western media, naturally.
KM definitely has risked alienating a great many of his contacts and friends by writing this book. He doesn't condemn the West per se, but simply says that the West has to change its mindset to accept Asia into its worldview, in some strong and definitive language. You almost want to clap and cheer, being an Asian, when reading this book. Definitely a good read if you want to spend some time trying to make sense of the world.
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