Asians in a Western world

"...questions remain about the sustainability of Asia's success....They cannot rely solely on favourable external developments or on Western ideas - though it is these, not Asian ones, that have driven Asia's growth. The economic principles of Asia's rise come from a Scot, Adam Smith. The political ideologies come from Western thinkers, from John Locke to Karl Marx. The international multilateral grid that served Asia well - including the U.N., WTO, IMF and World Bank- is essentially a Western creation. Asians have benefited enormously from being passengers on the Western globalisation bus.

Soon, they will help drive it. Asians cannot be free riders forever. Yet few Asians have given thought to how they will reshape the world order. The world is keen to learn what new responsibilities Asia will take on. So far, the region has remained silent. On the cultural front, too, Asian passivity is surprising. Bollywood, the sole major exception is growing in strength. But in virtually every other field, Asians have been consumers of Western cultural products, especially American ones....This distorts global perspectives. The world sees Asia through Western eyes. Asian have yet to explain themselves in their own terms to the rest of the world"

Kishore Mahbubani, " The Making of Modern Asia" in Time Aug 15-22, 2005
author of " Can Asians think?" a book I am reading now...fasinating read, very smart and insightful