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November 04, 2004
You are on the invidual archive page of America's changing place in Asia. Click Simon World weblog for the main page.
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America's changing place in Asia
The IHT has a piece on the decline of US influence in Asia. It concludes: When it comes to writing the diplomatic history of the Bush administration, the war in Iraq and American fears of terror will dominate. But it will also certainly be recorded that this was the period when American influence in Asia, the driving force of the region in the second half of the 20th century, began its downward spiral and America did not see it.The article covers the emergence of a new Asian community, particularly a more muscular and dominant China, while the US's influence declines because attention has been diverted by Iraq and terror. It's a half-empty look at the changing geopolitics of Asia. It ignores Japan's attempts to increase iots influence in the region. It also ignores that North Korea remains one of the Bush administration's key concerns. After all, the Norks are one of two surviving members of the Axis of Evil. Instead the changes in Asia and the US attitude to it can be seen as a gradual rebalancing of the world after 50 years of recovering from WW2 and the Cold War. Now countries are able to shoulder more of the diplomatic and defence burden for themselves. There is less need for a superpower's presence in the region as the region matures. It's a sign of Asia growing up. UPDATE: Via CDN, another piece on the same lines from Asia Times. posted by Simon on 11.04.04 at 10:04 AM in the
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Comments:
If the results of the US elections teach us anything, people around the world need to make a concerted effort to make sure that their own governments are working for their best interests and making their nation strong. Asia is already strong and will only get stronger. Some observers attribute this success to a "by your leave" attitude from the West which is a flawed orientalist view. posted by: Eshin on 11.04.04 at 12:33 PM [permalink] |
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