The rise of Asia a copy of the West
So Asia is rising. We knew that right? Interestingly, to Mahbubani’s opinion this is caused by the implementation of 7 pilars of Western wisdom. In other words: they are copying the West. Coming from a man, who’s fervently promoting the values of Asian society, that seems a bit odd. But I might have misunderstood what he has been saying, but to me, it sounded pretty much as if Asia as well has now introduced free markets like we have in the West, that they are implementing a rule of law, like in the West. And even the science and technology that Mahbubani suggests will drive the development of Asia forward, is Western as well, and the education of new students takes place in Western Universities. And so on. I have to admit that I didn’t read the book, but by the sounds of his lecture, I got the impression, that according to Mahbubani, the rise of the Asian Hemisphere might in fact be the one successful exporting product of values from the West.

Anthything wrong with that?
No, not really. Or at least, in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with copying the successful methods and models from the West to let your economy grow. However, I do think that things can not be copied blindly. Such examples have led to failures in the past. Especially in Africa, where models of governance were implemented without taking into account the local values and customs. As a result, most of them failed miserably. What I think is a bit off in Mahbubani’s argument, is that he acts as if it is something that is different. And during the debate with minister Frans Timmermans, Mahbubani, failed to make his point of that kind of difference. One of the things that struck me most, was Timmermans argument that if Asia wants to participate in the world economy as they do today, they also have to carry the burden of responsibility that comes with that. And we haven’t seen much of that yet, I agree with him.

Now, that doesn’t mean that the responsibilities have to be exactly like the ones we adhere in the West. But China in particular, doesn’t seem to take any stand in the world. I wonder if saying: we don’t want to interfere in local politics as they tend to say in Africa, is really acceptable in this day and age. Sure it makes everything a lot better for them, but are they really improving conditions globally? As has been suggested in previous posts here: to what extend should they be held responsible?

One final thought
Mahbubani does state, that it will take a long time, before Asia will really dominate world powers and become a power of similar importance as the US might be seen today. And yes, US economy is still enormous compared to that of Asian countries. Nevertheless, the idea is, that in the end Asia, and China in particular, will be one of the countries that will dominate world affairs. I find that believe to be remarkable as well. It is based on the extrapolation of current developments. And, it seems, that looking ahead, we might not be living in a linear world at all anymore. Might there be a possibility for China to take a drastically different course in the coming decades: periods of economic decrease that will lead to turmoil and a desintegration of China and Asia all together? The answer to that question, might be to far ahead, but would have provided for a more thought provoking lecture last Monday…