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Yang Jiemian
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Foreign Policy Studies
Related Articles Commentary Paper SIIS Report
Mar 23 2012
The Asian Century: more than economics and security
By Yang Jiemian
The Asian Century, or Pacific Century, has become a catchphrase that places great emphasis on economic dynamism and political power shifts. But the cultural and intellectual aspects of the Asian Century have somewhat been neglected. In the coming 25–50 years, three trends in Asia will likely develop in the context of continuous globalisation, evolving regionalism and the ongoing information revolution.

First, Asia will develop a greater sense of regional awareness and cohesion. The continent is still compartmentalised into Northeast, Southeast, South, Central and West Asia. But the region’s current collaborative efforts — such as the ASEAN-Plus formula, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation — will gradually lead toward a greater level of pan-Asian cooperation.

Second, the global configuration of power will become more evenly distributed between established and emerging powers, and Asia will be a very important component of the latter. Asia will no longer be complacent and content with its position at the lower end of the world economy and as a follower of the Western model. Rather, in both their bilateral and multilateral relations, Asian countries will call for a bigger say in rule making and agenda setting throughout regional and global affairs. In this sense, the G20’s elevation and the reform of the IMF and World Bank are indicative of Asia’s increasing role in world affairs.

And third, Asia will contribute more to the mainstream of world thinking. In the coming 25–50 years, Asia will substantially change its status as merely a recipient — or at most an adaptor — of Western cultures.

Asia has already made some great contributions in this regard. For instance, China, India and Burma worked out the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and the Southeast Asian nations have built up the ASEAN Way of consensus making. With its traditional and intellectual cultures both experiencing a renaissance, Asia will provide the world with more public goods in the form of ideas, principles and values.

Apart from contributing to the global economy and international security through these three trends, the Asian Century will also provide the world with alternative models of regionalism. Pragmatism and inclusiveness will be two major features of the new Asian regionalism. Asia’s pragmatism has helped its countries converge into an Asian community, from the ASEAN-Plus process through to a much broader membership based around consensus building. And unlike regional groupings such as the EU, ‘New Asianism’ embraces non-Asian members such as the US, Australia and New Zealand. This inclusiveness shows that Asia respects the history, current standing and future development of its members. By relying on incrementalism, rather than coerciveness, New Asianism is also conducive to the peaceful transition of the international system and more-effective global governance.

The Asian Century will present a fusion of cultures to the world as compared to many other regions, which are often dominated by a single culture. Asia is renowned for its cultural and religious diversity and its accommodation of these many differences. In this fast-changing world full of immediate concerns and conflicts, the inclusivity of Asian cultures can play the bridging role between regions and populations that geopolitics and geo-economics cannot.

The Asian Century will create new moral standards and values in the course of tackling future challenges.

The universality and particularity of moral standards and values constitutes a perennial debate within international society. While it is difficult for the actors in these debates to convince others to change their mainstream moralities and values, it may be possible for them to agree on making new ones. For instance, Asian values attach much greater importance to the non-material aspects of life, such as diligence, work ethics, family cohesion and consensus making. These will undoubtedly contribute to the eventual pooling of shared values, which in turn will help facilitate global affairs and international relations
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Finally, the Asian Century will help to crystallise a greater sense of wisdom. This will help the international community to approach the many global challenges we face from a broader perspective. Many existing regional bodies are of an economic, political or security nature, and while certainly necessary, they are not sufficient for elevating the current level of international and regional community building to face the challenges likely to occur in the next 25–50 years. Asian nations have much expertise and leadership that can be called upon in this regard, such as the rich traditional civilizations of China and India and the economic dynamism of countries such as South Korea and Singapore which can be adaptable to new challenges. And Asia’s exceptional willingness to contribute to this new century will help it digest the wisdom of others and assimilate it into its own.

When talking about the Asian Century, we should pay sufficient attention to long-term trends other than material goods and physical security. Thinking more about consensus building, shared values and converged moralities will each be essential, as both Asia and the world strive for a better future.

(This post is part of the series on the Asia Century which feeds into the Australian government White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century)

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