How ‘Asian Century’ can avoid calamities of ‘American Century’
Many are hailing the 21st century as the “Asian Century”.
In the “American Century”, two world wars were fought by major powers to settle disputes over land, sea, colonies and resources, as well as to gain regional and global dominance and leadership.
Will the journey to the Asian Century be the same?
Looking at the existing tensions and potential conflicts between major powers in Asia and beyond, namely China, India, Japan, Pakistan, North and South Korea, Southeast Asian countries, Russia and the United States, the geopolitical setting is as complicated as that in Europe before the world wars.
With weapons that are much more destructive and with countries now far more densely populated, any war would freeze the region’s development for years.
Key players as well as smaller nations in the region should collectively set a common vision for what kind of Asian Century we want to achieve.
Albert Ng Ya Ken
(Straits Times/ANN)
