INTERNATIONAL INSIGHT

The Asian Century

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?

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.

The Asian Century, undertaken in cooperation with the Asia Society, 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.

RECENT COMMENTARIES

FEATURED COMMENTARIES

Catalyzing Consumption and Balancing Growth

Anoop Singh Series: The Asian Century

2010-03-09

China has weathered the Great Recession well. But the world now waits to see if China can sustain last year’s impressive domestic demand, and if the government can put household consumption front and center in the country's growth model.... read

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Can Asians Resolve Global Problems?

Simon Chesterman and Kishore Mahbubani Series: The Asian Century

2010-03-01

In the past, Asians put a premium on protecting their sovereignty and were wary of any multilateral approaches that could dilute it. Now, in response to global challenges – for example, pandemics, financial crises, and climate change – the vast majority of Asian countries understand that collective action does not erode but instead protects sovereignty. ... read

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Peace Through Reconciliation in Afghanistan

Graciana del Castillo Series: The Asian Century

2010-02-15

It may or may not be coincidental, but as the US-led military offensive in Afghanistan gets underway, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has at long last embarked on a process of national reconciliation. This policy change is a necessary parallel to military action – and a belated recognition that the “development as usual” policies followed up to now have failed.... read

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Japan’s Secret Shogun

Masahiro Matsumura Series: The Asian Century

2010-02-01

With the post-general election honeymoon over, the Japanese public has become increasingly aware that Ichiro Ozawa, Secretary-General of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, is the puppet-master of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s cabinet. Ozawa's role underscores how much the DPJ has in common with its predecessor in government, the Liberal Democratic Party.... read

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Heroes Cross Swords in Sri Lanka

Brahma Chellaney Series: The Asian Century

2010-01-15

Two celebrated heroes who, as president and army chief, helped end Sri Lanka’s long and brutal civil war last year are now crossing political swords. Whichever candidate wins Sri Lanka’s presidential election on January 26 will have to lead that small but strategically located island-nation in a fundamentally different direction.... read

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Asia’s Changing Power Dynamics

Brahma Chellaney Series: The Asian Century

2010-01-04

Never before have China, Japan, and India all been strong at the same time. But there can be no denying that these three leading Asian powers and the US have different playbooks: America wants a uni-polar world but a multi-polar Asia; China seeks a multi-polar world but a uni-polar Asia; and Japan and India desire a multi-polar Asia and a multi-polar world.... read

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What Does Japan Want from America?

Masahiro Matsumura Series: The Asian Century

2009-12-11

Three months after the Democratic Party of Japan’s landslide general-election victory, the new administration’s foreign and security policy appears to be increasingly at odds with that of the US. But growing concern on both sides of the Pacific that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's is turning away from a declining US and reaching out to a rising China is largely unjustified.... read

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Inside Thailand’s Hidden War

Duncan McCargo Series: The Asian Century

2009-12-01

Thailand’s former prime minister, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, recently ignited a furor when he proposed that the separatist campaign in his country’s Muslim-majority southern provinces might be solved politically, with a form of self-rule. Thailand’s ruling Democrat Party immediately called Chavalit’s remarks “traitorous,” evidently preferring to stick with a doomed military strategy.... read

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From Community to Security in Asia

Fidel V. Ramos Series: The Asian Century

2009-11-23

Barack Obama’s just concluded visit to Asia may catalyze Asia and its leaders to reflect on just what sort of regional community they are building. Like Europe, Asia should use the existing umbrella of Pax Americana to accelerate economic, security, and political integration.... read

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Turning North Korea Around	John Delury
As formal negotiations over the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula look set to resume, talk of a “grand bargain” remains unfortunately just that – talk. To speed the process, the US and other powers need to pursue constructive engagement with North Korea to encourage economic transition and integration with the global economy.... read

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The Healing of Taiwan

Sin-ming Shaw Series: The Asian Century

2009-09-14

A Taiwanese court recently sentenced Chen Shui-bien, Taiwan’s president from 2000 until 2008, to life imprisonment for corruption. But Chen's legacy may prove difficult to reverse, as it extended beyond criminality to ethnic divisiveness and neglect of economic development.... read

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India Dissents from Obamamania

Pramit Pal Chaudhuri Series: The Asian Century

2008-11-07

NEW DELHI – India is among the few dozen countries, largely clustered in Asia and Africa, where sentiment in favor of the United States actually rose during the administration of George W. Bush. Nonetheless, more Indians favored the election of Barack Obama than they did John McCain. What explains this seeming contradiction?... read

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The Man Who Made Malaysia

Wang Gungwu Series: The Asian Century

2003-09-29

Once again, Malaysia's Mahathir Muhammed acerbic tongue has incited controversy. But his long rule in his country -- which ends November 1 -- amounts to much more than intemperate remarks, as Wang Gungwu, one of Southeast Asia's leading strategic analysts, suggests.... read

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The Trouble with Japanese Nationalism

Francis Fukuyama Series: The Asian Century

2007-03-23

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's brand of "new nationalism" is angering much of Asia and sowing doubts in the US. According to Francis Fukuyama, until Japan comes to terms with its responsibility for the Pacific War, revising the post-1945 constitution to allow Japanese re-armament – a key US goal – would be dangerously destabilizing.... read

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Sink or Swim in the Philippines

H. Harry L. Roque Series: The Asian Century

2008-07-10

The tragedy of the sinking of the Princess of the Stars ferry in the Philippines is proof that the country is prone not only to natural calamities, but to manmade ones as well. The refusal of Philippine courts to award sufficiently high damages to victims and their families has made loss of life affordable to those who intend to violate their contractual obligations.... read

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The Rise of Chinese “Sea Power”

Hideaki Kaneda Series: The Asian Century

2005-09-08

In an age of missiles and terrorist threats, many people think that “sea power” is a word and concept from the past. Not in China. Indeed, China is increasingly emphasizing its naval and maritime interests: economic development, territorial management, energy and food security as well as trade. A navy sufficient to promote such activities is being rapidly developed and purchased from abroad (mostly from Russia, the EU when possible).... read

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The Ghosts of History in East Asia

Antonio Chun-nan Chiang Series: The Asian Century

2005-08-08

This year marks the centenary of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, and on August 15 many countries will commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the end of WWII in the Pacific. Of course, Japan’s military dominance in East Asia – which began with the Russo-Japanese War and led to WWII – is no more. The ghosts of this history still hang over in East Asia, with each country struggling to find ways to deal with the past. ... read

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Modernization Versus Westernization

Deepak Lal Series: The Asian Century

2002-12-23

Everyone nowadays seems obsessed about the question as to whether or not Islam can be reconciled with modernization. In discussing this issue, what constitutes modernization is often confused with westernization. Understanding the difference is vital. ... read

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One Forest, Two Tigers

Peter Hays Gries Series: The Asian Century

2005-02-15

When Japan’s government recently decided to ignore Chinese protests and allow Taiwan’s former president, Lee Teng-hui, to visit Japan, China lashed out at its Asian neighbor, even threatening retaliation. But this latest dispute is characteristic of a remarkable flurry of anti-Japanese activity in China since 2003.... read

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The China Question

Hideaki Kaneda Series: The Asian Century

2005-12-06

President Bush’s recent visit to Asia made little news – by design. But that’s because Bush didn’t begin to address the issue that is looming ever larger in the region: the changing face of security in Asia in view of China’s growing economic and military might.... read

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The India Option

Charles Tannock Series: The Asian Century

2006-02-13

French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to India this month to complete the sale of 6 attack submarines to India will confirm once more India’s emergence as an economic and diplomatic powerhouse. The “strategic partnership” that both America and the European Union have at times sought with China looks both more plausible and more desirable with democratic India.... read

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Bangladesh Goes Taliban	Charles Tannock
Is Bangladesh headed into the black hole that consumed Afghanistan under the Taliban? Fears are mounting, as official and fundamentalist religious forces now seem to operate with impunity – and the apparent support of local police, the ruling Bangladeshi National Party, and local authorities. ... read
Indonesia’s Moderate Muslims	Mun'im A. Sirry
Islam in Indonesia, whose 200 million people constitute the world’s largest community of Muslims, is increasingly viewed as very different from the Islam practiced in the older Muslim communities of the Middle East. Indeed, one distinguished scholar, Bassam Tibi of Gottingen University, has described Indonesia as “a model for religiously and ethno-culturally different communities to live together in peace and mutual respect.”... read

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