http://www.project-syndicate.org/series/the_asian_century <p><em>Will Pakistan implode? Whatever happened to "Asian values"? Is there a Pacific arms race? Will China's rise swamp Asia's smaller economies? Will the Taliban's revival bring chaos to Central Asia? Can Japan ever establish relations of trust with its neighbors?</em></p> <p>Sixty percent of the world's population resides in the countries extending from Afghanistan to the micro-states of Oceania. Immense and immensely diverse, Asia now confronts the simultaneous challenges of modernization and globalization. This compels not only awareness of the wider world, but also accommodations that may clash with embedded values. Modernization offers real material gains, but also incites serious internal divisions.</p> <p><strong>The Asian Century</strong>, undertaken in cooperation with the <strong><em>Asia Society</em></strong>, one of the world's premier think tanks on Asian affairs, brings readers a unique mix of leading Asian commentators and decision-makers, as well as Asia experts from around the world.</p> en 2012-02-10T05:55:23+01:00 webmaster@project-syndicate.org webmaster@project-syndicate.org 1994-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 4 hourly http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rudd1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rudd1/English>ASIA: Tomorrow’s Pax Pacifica</a> Although the relationship between China and the United States is critical to Asia’s future, the concept of a "G-2" is never going to fly in the region. The task today is to recognize the realities of US and Chinese power, without turning the rest of the region into collateral damage should the Sino-American relationship deteriorate. Kevin Rudd 2012-02-07T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney25/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney25/English>ASIA: No Escape from Empire’s Graveyard</a> With the stage set for secret US-Taliban talks in Qatar, President Barack Obama’s strategy for a phased exit from war-ravaged Afghanistan is now being couched in terms that hide more than they reveal. In seeking a Faustian bargain with the Taliban, Obama risks repeating US policy mistakes that now haunt regional and international security. Brahma Chellaney 2012-01-31T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney24/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney24/English>ASIA: Asia’s New Tripartite Entente</a> The launch of trilateral strategic consultations among the US, India, and Japan, and their decision to hold joint naval exercises this year, signals efforts to form an entente among the Asia-Pacific region’s three leading democracies. But the aim is not to establish a formal military alliance, or to "contain China." Brahma Chellaney 2012-01-10T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/blee3/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/blee3/English>ASIA: South Korea’s Political Springtime</a> The ascension to power of the pudgy 29-year-old Kim Jong-un in North Korea has grabbed headlines around the world, but the most important story involving Korean young people and politics is taking place in the South. There, young voters are becoming angrier, more politically active, and increasingly hostile to the old established parties. Lee Byong-chul 2012-01-06T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney23/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney23/English>ASIA: Asia’s Natural-Born Allies</a> At a time when China’s economic, diplomatic, and military rise casts a shadow of power disequilibrium over Asia, the just-concluded visit of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to India cemented a fast-growing relationship between two natural allies. Now the task for Japan and India is to add concrete strategic content to their ties. Brahma Chellaney 2011-12-28T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/yoon7/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/yoon7/English>ASIA: Whither North Korea?</a> So far, the succession of power in North Korea from Kim Jong-il to to his son, Kim Jong-un, seems to be proceeding in an orderly fashion. But, despite appearances, few totalitarian regimes have ever maintained a monolithic inner circle, and North Korea is unlikely to be an exception to this rule. Yoon Young-kwan 2011-12-22T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/fraser4/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/fraser4/English>ASIA: Toward a Peaceful Pacific</a> Across the Asia-Pacific region, China's influence is rising, while the US continues to dominate militarily. It is difficult to predict how America’s role in the region will evolve, but both sides should pursue diplomatic efforts to minimize Sino-American rivalry and avoid embarking on a new cold war. Malcolm Fraser 2011-12-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/burki11/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/burki11/English>ASIA: South Asia’s Whispering Enemies</a> Last week's South Asian regional-cooperation summit was predictably disappointing, given unmet expectations for the meeting between the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers on the sidelines of the main event. While relations between the region's two largest economies have improved slightly over the past 18 months, no new initiatives were offered. Shahid Javed Burki 2011-11-16T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/aquino1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/aquino1/English>ASIA: The Philippines Joins the Asian Race</a> The Philippines reopened for business under new management only a little more than a year ago. It is faring very well – and is set to become increasingly profitable. Benigno S. Aquino 2011-11-11T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney20/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney20/English>ASIA: The Water Hegemon</a> International discussion about China’s rise has focused on its increasing trade muscle, growing maritime ambitions, and expanding capacity to project military power. One critical issue, however, usually escapes attention: China’s rise as a riparian hegemon with no modern historical parallel. Brahma Chellaney 2011-10-14T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delcastillo10/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delcastillo10/English>ASIA: The Economics of Peace in Afghanistan</a> In settling the Afghan war, the government and donors should seek to eschew the pattern of unkept promises that has bedeviled reconstruction of the country in the past. Only then will Afghanistan be able to break out of its decades-long vicious circle of violence, insecurity, corruption, unemployment, drug trafficking, and aid dependency. Graciana del Castillo 2011-09-13T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/burki10/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/burki10/English>ASIA: Pakistan after 9/11</a> The 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US sent shock waves around the world from which Pakistan has still not recovered. Indeed, Pakistan’s participation in the “global war on terror” thrust the country to the forefront of the international community’s attention at a moment when it was utterly unprepared to reconcile the world’s concerns with its own. Shahid Javed Burki 2011-09-07T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney19/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chellaney19/English>ASIA: China’s Ethnic Tremors</a> An increasing number of Uighurs, Tibetans, and Mongolians in China are choosing to stand up to the Han Chinese authorities' decades-old policy of ethnic and economic colonization. Unless China does not reverse course, its internal-security problems will continue to mount. Brahma Chellaney 2011-08-08T00:00:00+02:00