March to Modernity

Last updated

The March to Modernity, coined by Kishore Mahbubani in his 2008 book, "The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East", refers to Asia's modernization using and adapting the seven pillars of Western ideology, causing Asia to rise and to become the new global power. Asia's modernity was first achieved by Japan and India. Japan's success was emulated by the four economic tigers: South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. China followed soon after by launching its "Four Modernizations" program. China's success of the past three decades in turn inspired the rise of India. Asians are marching to modernity.

Contents

Overview

Kishore Mahbubani used the term in his book, The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. March to Modernity indicates the first and most likely of the three possible scenarios of Asia's modernization in the globalization era. Mahbubani discusses how the rise of Asia will alter the world between the East and the West in the next fifty years. He argues that the modernizing Asia will be good for the whole world in ethical as well as political terms. The West (primarily America), a pioneer of the globalization and modernization, has triggered Asian modernization. The desire of Asian states is simply to follow, not to dominate West, which refers to rather the triumph of the West. However, many Western leaders made remarks defining the coming world of rising Asia as dangerous or challenging. (President Bush in 2006, French minister of foreign affairs Barnier in 2005, etc.) This conception is out-dated. The Asian March to Modernity represents a new opportunity both for the West and for the world.

Scenario 1: March to Modernity

Kishore Mahbubani's main argument and first scenario is when the March to Modernity succeeds, the world would become more peaceful, stable and prosperous.

Mahbubani's first argument is that the March to Modernity will have a positive co-relational relationship in which modernization of material gains will cause Asia to experience a positive psychological boost. By gaining access to the modernization of the three basic human needs of shelter, water, and electricity, the poor of the Asian hemisphere will experience a boost in hope for a better life. Mahbubani uses the example of India's recent liberalization and shows that in the past decade poor, rural Indians feel more hopeful due to the increase in modernization. The satisfied people will also as stated by Mahbubani have a greater sense of self-dignity. Taking South Korea for example, people feel more liberated and full of hope for the future because they have numerous choices and several possibilities to choose from.

Second, entering the modern universe inevitably leads to a greater adherence to the rule of law. Mahbubani argues this point by explaining that through increase of material wealth a greater presence of law will occur, thus creating a sense of ownership and certainty. Through democratization, empowered humans will become responsible in setting world history in a positive direction due to the belief that they have the ability to control their destiny. Lastly, Mahbubani explains that the March to Modernity will also lead to a more ethical universe. Larger shares of the population will be lifted out of absolute poverty, followed by social benefits such as improvements in health and education and a decrease in crime rates. For instance, ideas of Western secular education that emphasizes economy and society are taught in China while the pages of socialism ideas are reduced. According to Mahbubani, the Chinese government spends more money and effort on child education with a heavy bias towards science and technology. However a decade ago, previous education focused on Chinese dynasties and communist revolution rather than globalization. Adopting free-market economy not only gave China progression in economic activity as well as liberated the minds of Chinese people. Mahbubani believes that the success of North America and the European Union was caused by the middle class who are reluctant to sacrifice their comfortable life due to warfare. When disputes between individuals and societies emerge, they would be settled on the basis of agreed rules and procedures, not by warfare. According to Larry Summers, “there can be no personal freedom without personal security”. Therefore, the March to Modernity creates a more secure world due to adherence to rules and order.

Examples of Economic Prosperity in Asia

• Modernization of China and India has succeeded in reducing the number of people in absolute poverty.

• Spread of Cell phone users in India has changed Indian mindset on modern instruments. This “mobile miracle” empowered the less fortunate to fight poverty and to be connected to the global economy. Cell phones are now connecting the World's poor to the global economy, which leads to higher productivity.

Examples of Political Stability in Asia

• China has actively responded to the call of the World Bank to become a "responsible stakeholder" in the international order (Sept. 2005).

• Most Asian countries want to take responsible parts in the open multilateral international order.

Other Two Possible Scenarios

Scenario 2: The Retreat into Fortresses

In the second scenario, Mahbubani believes that the Western hemisphere, will become threatened by Asia's success. Thus, the West will engaged in rigid protectionism to halt Asia's rising status. However, Mahbubani explains that Europe has engaged in protectionist techniques since the end of the Cold War. These strategies includes massive subsidies to the wealthy few in Europe and using tax payers’ dollars on unnecessary language translations. Although the European Union's protectionist policies has not hindered the overall growth of the global economy, according to David Hale, a Wall Street journalist,“the greatest threat to this [global] boom is that the United States will lose confidence in the free market ideology". [1] Protectionism is also happening in the investment sector of global politics. The United States has backed out of foreign investment due to the concern of national security issues. Paul Krugman, one of America's leading economist acknowledges that free trade is not universally beneficial in that there will be some winners and some losers. [2] However the World Bank, states that countries that engaged in free trade will actually see a rise in their economies as well due to the laws of comparative advantage.

Scenario 3: The Triumph of the West

The Triumph of the West is the last scenario presented by Mahbubani. The West, having positioned itself as a superpower after the Cold War, Westernization will increase thus causing all other nations to adopt Western values and become "cultural clones of the West". [3]

This argument was elaborated by Francis Fukuyama in his book "The End of History" arguing for the "end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government". [4] Mahbubani contends that three fundamental flaws exists in this scenario.

The first flaw is the belief that the West had triumphed over the Soviet Union because of its values and political system. [5] Mahbubani illustrates it was the economic system that led to Western triumph, and the success of China and the failure of Soviet Union reveal the flaw of the argument. Deng Xiaoping focused on introducing free-market economics to China by correctly understanding the source of Western strength, while Gorbachev focused on glasnost (political openness) over perestroika (economic restructuring). [6] In other words, Gorbachev's failure to realize the power of Western economic system led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The belief that "any society anywhere in the world at any state of social and economic development could be immediately transformed overnight into a liberal democracy" is the second flaw of the Western triumphalist thesis. [7] The author points out that everywhere else apart from the East European countries, which shared common history and culture with Western Europe, democratization failed. He offers the example of the Balkans to argue that "without the right institutions and political culture, long-smoldering ethnic, religious, and nationalistic sentiments in many countries can be whipped up by opportunistic demagogues", leading to failure in transition to democracy. [8] Although democratic elections were held in Croatia and Serbia, instead of liberal democrats, nationalist demagogues were elected. The leaders then appealed to visceral nationalist sentiments to retain their power, which led to war. Unprepared democratization can also lead to internal ethnic conflicts, as illustrated by the ethnic cleansing of Croats in parts of the former Yugoslavia, the attacks on the Chinese minority in Indonesia, and the Tutsi slaughter in Rwanda. [9]

Lastly, disregarding cultural differences by believing that the model of Western liberal democratic society is universally applicable to all societies is another flaw in the triumphant post-Cold War thesis. [10] Mahbubani claims that cultures are different and failing to see this shows generosity but also arrogance of the West. The author asserts that there is nothing superior about the Western values, rather, other dormant cultures simply underwent revival of cultural confidence and dynamism when the West was experiencing one of its most triumphant moments. [11] Based on the flaws, Kishore Mahbubani argues that this scenario is least likely to happen in the future.

Reasons For Asia's Rise

In his book, The New Asian Hemisphere, Kishore Mahbubani explains seven pillars of Western wisdom that have contributed to Asia's march to modernity: [12]

  1. Free-market economics
  2. Science and technology
  3. Meritocracy
  4. Pragmatism
  5. Culture of peace
  6. Rule of law
  7. Education

Cases of Asia's Modernity

Kishore Mahbubani suggests two significant cases of Asia's modernity; China and India.

According to 'The China Modernization Report', China measures its modernization level with two assessment criteria; first stage, "industrialization and urbanization" and second stage, a "knowledge-driven and information-driven" society. The 2007 China Modernization Report predicts that by 2015, China will have reached modernization "to the level of developed nations in 1960".

The mobile phone revolution in India shows how "just one modern instrument" impacts modernization. It is not just the spread of mobile phones but the spread of communication and information.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Clash of Civilizations</i> Published theory of Samuel P. Huntington about cultural geography

The Clash of Civilizations is a thesis that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post–Cold War world. The American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington argued that future wars would be fought not between countries, but between cultures. It was proposed in a 1992 lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, which was then developed in a 1993 Foreign Affairs article titled "The Clash of Civilizations?", in response to his former student Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man. Huntington later expanded his thesis in a 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.

<i>The End of History and the Last Man</i> 1992 book by Francis Fukuyama

The End of History and the Last Man is a 1992 book of political philosophy by American political scientist Francis Fukuyama which argues that with the ascendancy of Western liberal democracy—which occurred after the Cold War (1945–1991) and the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991)—humanity has reached "not just ... the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: That is, the end-point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government." For the book, which is an expansion of his essay "The End of History?", Fukuyama draws upon the philosophies and ideologies of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx, who define human history as a linear progression, from one socioeconomic epoch to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere</span> Japanese imperialist concept

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, also known as the GEACPS, was a concept that was developed in the Empire of Japan and propagated to Asian populations which it occupied from 1931 to 1945. It officially aimed at creating a self-sufficient bloc of Asian peoples and states that would be led by the Japanese and be free from the rule of Western powers. The idea was first announced on 1 August 1940 in a radio address delivered by Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka.

Westernization, also Europeanisation or occidentalization, is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economics, lifestyle, law, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, diet, clothing, language, writing system, religion, and philosophy. During colonialism it often involved the spread of Christianity.

<i>Pax Sinica</i> Periods of regional peace maintained by Chinese hegemony

Pax Sinica is a historiographical term referring to periods of peace and stability in East Asia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia led by China. A study on the Sinocentric world system reveals that the multiple periods of Pax Sinica, when taken together, amounted to a length of approximately two thousand years.

Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, and were strongly influenced by the writings of Harvard sociologist Talcott Parsons. Modernization theory was a dominant paradigm in the social sciences in the 1950s and 1960s, then went into a deep eclipse. It made a comeback after 1991, when Francis Fukuyama wrote about the end of the Cold War as confirmation on modernization theory and more generally of universal history. But the theory remains a controversial model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian Century</span> Projected dominance of Asian politics and culture during the 21st century

The Asian Century is the projected 21st-century dominance of Asian politics and culture, assuming certain demographic and economic trends persist. The concept of Asian Century parallels the characterisation of the 19th century as Britain's Imperial Century, and the 20th century as the American Century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kishore Mahbubani</span> Singaporean academic, diplomat and geopolitical consultant

Kishore Mahbubani is a Singaporean diplomat and geopolitical consultant who served as Singapore Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1984 and 1989, and again between 1998 and 2004, and President of the United Nations Security Council between 2001 and 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Century</span> Idea that the 21st century will be dominated by India

The Indian Century is the idea that the 21st century will be dominated by India, as the 20th century is often called the American Century, and the 19th century as Pax Britannica. The phrase is used particularly in the assertion that the economy of India could overtake the economy of the United States and economy of China as the largest national economy in the world, a position it held from 1 to 1500 CE and from 1600 to 1700 CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese Century</span> Neologism suggesting that China may dominate the 21st century geoeconomically or geopolitically

The Chinese Century is a neologism suggesting that the 21st century may be geoeconomically or geopolitically dominated by the People's Republic of China, similar to how the "American Century" refers to the 20th century and the "British Centuries" to the 18th and 19th. The phrase is used particularly in association with the prediction that the economy of China may overtake the economy of the United States to be the largest in the world. A similar term is China's rise or rise of China.

Islam and modernity is a topic of discussion in contemporary sociology of religion. The history of Islam chronicles different interpretations and approaches. Modernity is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon rather than a unified and coherent one. It has historically had different schools of thought moving in many directions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of East Asia</span> Overview of the economy of East Asia

The economy of East Asia comprises 1.6 billion people living in six different countries and regions. The region includes several of the world's largest and most prosperous economies: Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. It is home to some of the most economically dynamic places in the world, being the site of some of the world's most extended modern economic booms, including the Japanese economic miracle (1950–1990), Miracle on the Han River (1961–1996) in South Korea, the Taiwan miracle in Taiwan (1960–1996) and the Chinese economic miracle (1978–2015) in mainland China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potential superpower</span> Entity speculated to become a superpower

A potential superpower is a state or other polity that is speculated to be—or to have the potential to soon become—a superpower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Asia</span> Subregion of the Asian continent

East Asia is the easternmost region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. Hong Kong and Macau, two small coastal quasi-dependent territories located in the south of China, are officially highly autonomous but are under Chinese sovereignty. Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau are some of the world's largest and most prosperous economies. East Asia borders Siberia and the Russian Far East to the north, Southeast Asia to the south, South Asia to the southwest, and Central Asia to the west. To the east is the Pacific Ocean and to the southeast is Micronesia. Some people include Vietnam—a Southeast Asian country geographically—as part of East Asia, as it is always considered part of the East Asian culture sphere.

Proto-globalization or early modern globalization is a period of the history of globalization roughly spanning the years between 1600 and 1800, following the period of archaic globalization. First introduced by historians A. G. Hopkins and Christopher Bayly, the term describes the phase of increasing trade links and cultural exchange that characterized the period immediately preceding the advent of so-called "modern globalization" in the 19th century.

When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order is a book by British journalist and scholar Martin Jacques. It was released in 2009. Jacques refers to the estimates on China's economic superiority, such as made by Goldman Sachs, and concludes that China's future economic strength will heavily alter the political and cultural landscape of the future world. The book was originally released in the UK under the subtitle "The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World".

Asiacentrism is an ethnocentric and economic perspective that regards Asia to be either superior, central, or unique relative to other regions. This ideological stance may take the form of ascribing to Asia significance or supremacy at the cost of the rest of the world. The concept arose in the context of a projected Asian Century, the expected economic and cultural dominance of Asia in the 21st century, in the 1990s.

Modernisation refers to a model of a progressive transition from a "pre-modern" or "traditional" to a "modern" society. The theory particularly focuses on the internal factors of a country while assuming that, with assistance, traditional or pre-modern countries can be brought to development in the same manner which more developed countries have. Modernisation theory attempts to identify the social variables that contribute to social progress and development of societies, and seeks to explain the process of social evolution. Modernisation theory is subject to criticism originating among socialists and free-market ideologies, world-systems theorists, globalisation theorists and dependency theorists among others. Modernisation theory not only stresses the process of change, but also the responses to that change. It also looks at internal dynamics while referring to social and cultural structures and the adaptation of new technologies.

References

  1. ↑ Hale, David (31 July 2007). "The Best Economy Ever". New York Times. New York.
  2. ↑ Krugman, Paul (27 February 2004). "The Trade Tightrope". New York Times. New York.
  3. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  42–44. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  4. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  43. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  5. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  44. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  6. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  44. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  7. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  46. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  8. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  46. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  9. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  47. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  10. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  48. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  11. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  49. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.
  12. ↑ Mahbubani, Kishore (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: PublicAffairs. pp.  51–99. ISBN   978-1-58648-466-8.

Further Reading on K. Mahbubani

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.