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Whistle Stopper - The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East
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List Price: $26.00
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Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 327.5
EAN: 9781586484668
ISBN: 1586484664
Label: PublicAffairs
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2008-01-22
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Studio: PublicAffairs
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Asia's March to Modernity
Comment: Kishore Mahbubani, former diplomat and currently dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, was one of the leading exponents of "Asian values" in the 1980s. Although they were in vogue for a time, the merits of those values were lost on many during the Asian financial crises of the 1990s. But since then Asian countries have made a remarkable recovery, and now Mahbubani is back taking his argument to a new level.
With 7-10% annual economic growth rates, Mahbubani sees global power shifting from West to East. He attributes this success not only to Asian values, but also to what he calls "the seven pillars of Western wisdom." Those pillars are free-market economics; science and technology; meritocracy; pragmatism; a culture of peace; rule of law; and education. Modernization in Asia began in the late 19th century with Japan opening to the West, then followed by the 4 tigers, and finally China and India. This march to modernity, as he calls it, has not only raised living standards but also Asian expectations in global power-sharing.
Mahbubani's grudge against the West is that the West is not playing by the rules which it created. The West, which he sees as Europe and North America, has only 15% of the world's population and 48% of global GDP; whereas the East - which is everyone else - has 85% of the world's population and 52% of GDP. The West is still dominating the world through outdated institutions such as the UN Security Council, the IMF, and the World Bank. Under a system of meritocracy or democracy the East should have a much larger role in global affairs.
Mahbubani makes many suggestions that would rectify this situation such as making India and China members of the G8, and opening up some of the top jobs at the IMF and World Bank to Asians. I couldn't agree more. His criticisms of the West have, for the most part, been correct. America's botched operation in Iraq is an easy target. Nuclear proliferation issues and the West's failure to stop genocide the Balkans and Rwanda are also given as examples of the West's incompentence. True again. This should not, however, be contrued as being anti-Western, it is only constructive criticism.
Unfortunately Mahbubani is as uncritical of Asia's shortcomings as he critical of the West's. When he says that the Chinese are freer today than they have been at any time in their history, one would have to agree. (This is also the view of Parag Khanna in The Second World.) But what about the rights of Tibetans and other minorities in China? What about legal and political rights in general? Autocracies only allow economic freedom. He also conveniently overlooks the violence in Kashmir, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. And why blame only the West when nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Pakistan, and now Iran is mostly a result of China's neglect? Asian ascendancy has not been without its own fiascoes.
Parag Khanna argued that there will be three global leaders in the new century: the US, the EU, and China. Mahbubani would like to add India, for he sees India as a bridge between the East and the West. This is a valid point since many Indian intellectuals are at home in both the East and the West. He claims there is still a resistance among public intellectuals and journalists in the West to accept the East on equal terms, but I myself have not seen this resistance. I see a greater recognition of the East almost on a daily basis. With Asia's growing economic power, political power will follow no matter how much real or imagined resistance there is.
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Summary: A good extension of "Can Asian Think"
Comment: The author again focuses on big ideas about the east and the west, his arguments are well-balanced, yet as in "Can Asian Think", there is no theory, no foundamental theme by which he can convince readers who stand on the east and the west.
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Summary: The New Asian Hemisphere
Comment: Excellent read; author tells it as it is. A realistic assessment for anyone monitoring trends in global politics.
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Summary: An excellent set of observations concerning global change
Comment: This is an excellent book with a considerable set of observations concerning the shifts occurring in the global power equation. It is both complementary of and critical of Western Civilization. It gives credit where credit is due: Western Civilization established a set of cultural principles which are generally applicable to all of humankind: democracy, the rule of law, the intellectual gift of the Enlightenment.
Westerna Civilization is, however, in the process of weakening itself. It errs significantly when it deviates from those principals. The United States is particularly prone to embrace ideology (be it political or moralistic) when operating on the world stage. This approach was doomed to failure in the past and is doomed to failure in the present. One does not force democracy down the throats of people at the barrel of a gun. One does not torture people in hidden prisons. One does not make friends and influence people in a global village by playing the bully.
Essentially the world is filled with highly intelligent and hardworking people. They may not want to be fully Westernized but they certainly want to be "Modernized." How much they adopt the principles of democracy should be up to them. Not all societies are developed to a level where they can easily embrace Western views of democracy. They will, however, become more progressive.
The are some weaknesses in the book. The author is extremely concerned about the rise of protectionism particularly in America. This makes sense since the US provides the rest of the world with 100s of billions of dollars a year of its wealth. This is ultimately hurtful to the American form of Western Civilization. Diminishing the wealth base of the United States cannot continue to be the sole source of growth for Asian economies. The author does not present any recommendations as to how to deal with this form of unsustainable economics.
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Summary: Big picture by a smooth talker; valuable
Comment: I like this book. It is stimulating and relevant. Also, his perspective is especially valuable for Americans, who understand very little about Asia (or Africa or Latin America - areas that this author calls "the Rest," as opposed to N. America/Europe as "the West").
Having praised this book, I now want to explain what it is and is not. The author is making a case (and a good one), but as with all such "big thinkers" glossing over much in his search for generalizations.
Indeed, his approach is captured at the very outset, under "Acknowledgements," when he thanks his main research assistant who, with his argument in mind, would "find the right statistics and anecdotes to bolster many of the points I made." Not social science, but certain the way most wide-ranging policy makers and analysts operate. (I personally have performed such functions for policy-makers.)
His basic theme - other than the rise of Asia - is that free-enterprise-based economic growth (or "development" if you prefer) produces a vital middle class. This well-educated and affluent sector in turn changes the tenor of life in a society, bringing not only more economic progress but more competent government that serves all (or most) sectors of society.
As usual with such books (and thinkers) many of the finer points and issues are glossed over in the narrative. For example, in his zeal for free enterpise (laissez faire economics) he skirts the positive and sometimes absolutely necessary functions of regulation by public agencies. He also is weak on the shortcomings of so-called "meritocracy," for example, its tendency to pass inherited privileges and skills through unequal access to quality education and career contacts.
Limitations notwithstanding, among his arguments and anecdotes given to bolster the case are important points that Western (US and European) audiences need to hear. For example, on pp. 85-86 he discusses the rule of law and compares patterns in Asia with the West.
My own inclination is toward books by specialists. However, now and again, and especially on topics as important as our understanding of and relations with Asia and "the Rest", "big thinkers" provide me with valuable insights and perhaps refresh understandings that I had decades ago but blurred with age and other experiences.
I highly recommend this book. I lament that many of my conservative friends won't even consider learning something by reading it, and that many of my more liberal friends won't read it because they think that they "already know these issues and points."
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Editorial Reviews:
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For centuries, the Asians (Chinese, Indians, Muslims, and others) have been bystanders in world history. Now they are ready to become co-drivers.
Asians have finally understood, absorbed, and implemented Western best practices in many areas: from free-market economics to modern science and technology, from meritocracy to rule of law. They have also become innovative in their own way, creating new patterns of cooperation not seen in the West.
Will the West resist the rise of Asia? The good news is that Asia wants to replicate, not dominate, the West. For a happy outcome to emerge, the West must gracefully give up its domination of global institutions, from the IMF to the World Bank, from the G7 to the UN Security Council.
History teaches that tensions and conflicts are more likely when new powers emerge. This, too, may happen. But they can be avoided if the world accepts the key principles for a new global partnership spelled out in The New Asian Hemisphere.
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