Living in the Asian Century

Today's Asianisation is simultaneously the dawn of a brave new world, and a return to what was the status quo for most of human civilisation, when Asia led the way.

This is according to Parag Khanna, author of "The Future Is Asian: Commerce, Conflict, and Culture in the 21st Century".

"Billions of Asians growing up in the past two decades have experienced geopolitical stability, rapidly expanding prosperity, and surging national pride. The world they know is one not of Western dominance but of Asian ascendance."

Khanna's book states that just as the world was Europeanised in the 19th century and Americanized in the 20th century, so too is it now being Asianised in the 21st century.

Moreover, it is also time to rid ourselves of the myopic Western view, particularly from the US, that the rise of Asia is solely the story of China.

As Khanna points out, the West has always failed to understand the complexity of Asia. China is not fated to dominate Asia, because other Asian countries themselves are ascendant and are pushing back against China.

In fact, Asian history has always been multipolar and multicultural. China, India, Japan, Korea, and other civilisations co-existing and contributing to each other’s culture even as they came into conflict. Instead of a new Cold War, what we are looking for is a world where no one nation dominates the rest.

The Asian story is just beginning. Welcome to the Asian Century.