What the East can teach

The 21st century, and possibly the new millennium, will inevitably belong to Asia, anchored by China. This is not to say the West will become irrelevant, but it needs to completely rethink its strategy and worldview. Look at what the West did wrong recently, even as it has done a lot of good over the several past decades.

Evidently, the US and Europe have rested on its post-WWII laurels for far too long. The blinkered ideology of democracy is tripping the West, as it holds fast to its belief that no nation can be civilised without a democratic system of government. There are solid examples to prove that economic progress, individual freedom, and general well-being can take place without an exported Western-style democracy in action. More alarmingly, the US' desire to spread via invasion its democratic frameworks to places like Iraq without proper prior research (such as minority vs. majority politics, the role of Islam in government, etc) or worldwide sanction, shows how its ideology can go terribly wrong.

The US and some Western European countries were justifiably put at the helm of powerful international organisations, notably the UN Security Council. However, the author recounts from his diplomatic experience how often the US has bent the will of the Security Council to serve its own interests, how it scoffs at the legitimacy of the UN General Assembly, how it ignores climate change and nuclear nonproliferation while breathing down other necks to stay in line, and so on. The European Union is similarly guilty of looking inward and failing to nourish its relations with the rest of the world, whether it be through development aid or intervention in global crises. It turns out that China and Japan have been far more sporting players on the global ground, with a generous record of international aid and effective multi-lateral collaboration.

The West can learn from Asia's success with its March to Modernity, and its wide-ranging efforts to alleviate poverty. Deng Xiaoping transformed China from an insular, primitive agriculture-based juggernaut to a slick model of economic prowess and global eminence, without doing away with the existing Communist political status quo. It is time for the West to share space on its pedestal and extend a hand of ungrudging partnership to Asia to tackle global issues to have positive consequences for all nations involved.

Kishore Mahbubani is just the right voice of reason, beautifully modulated at that. A Singaporean of Indian origin, he became a career diplomat with several key assignments under his belt, not the least as ambassador to the United Nations, president on rotation of the UN Security Council, and now as a dean of a reputed school of public policy. As such, he is qualified to deliver some unpalatable, yet not entirely unexpected, truths about the shifting of power centres in this global village, and the decreasing impetus of the West today. On the other hand, he offers encouragement and solutions for the viability of the West. Critically, he fulfils the premise that to point out the faults of America and the EU is not to be anti-American, anti-West, or anti-modernity, but to discover the truth, true to the pragmatist school of philosophy.

THE NEW ASIAN HEMISPHERE
THE IRRESISTIBLE SHIFT OF GLOBAL POWER TO THE EAST

Kishore Mahbubani
PublicAffairs
Rs 695, 280 pages