The new Asian hemisphere: the irresistible shift of global power to the East

TLDR

Asia has long been a passive observer of Western dominance, but that era has ended as the region reclaims its historical centrality and urges Western minds to adjust their mental maps. The book calls for the West to relinquish its automatic dominance of global institutions so that Asia can share power and become responsible stakeholders in a stable world order. By 2050, China, India, and Japan will constitute three of the world's largest economies.

Abstract

For two centuries Asians have been bystanders in world history, reacting defenselessly to the surges of Western commerce, thought, and power. That era is over. Asia is returning to the center stage it occupied for eighteen centuries before the rise of the West. By 2050, three of the world's largest economies will be Asian: China, India, and Japan. In The New Asian Hemisphere, Kishore Mahbubani argues that Western minds need to step outside their comfort zone and prepare new mental maps to understand the rise of Asia. The West, he says, must gracefully share power with Asia by giving up its automatic domination of global institutions from the IMF to the World Bank, from the G7 to the UN Security Council. Only then will the new Asian powers reciprocate by becoming responsible stakeholders in a stable world order.