The End of the Asian Century

October 31, 2016
As shown in this informative, thoughtful, and wide-ranging book, Asia—the most culturally diverse region in the world—contains over 51% of the global population and produces nearly 40% of the world’s “total global output,” so it’s worth everyone’s while to pay attention to the risks it faces. American Enterprise Institute scholar Auslin (Pacific Cosmopolitans: A Cultural History of U.S.-Japan Relations) focuses his risk assessment on five issues: economic stagnation (China’s faltering growth, Japan and South Korea’s maturing economies, India’s untapped potential), demographics (the problems of either too few employable people in Japan and China’s aging societies or too many in India and Indonesia), unfinished political progress, the lack of a political community like NATO or the European Union, and the threat of war. He argues that as the militaries in many Asian countries—China’s most of all—have grown dramatically, the U.S. should take the lead in drawing its Asian allies closer together. This, he argues, would help “Asia’s leading liberal nations” peacefully engage China and Russia and limit their destabilizing influences. Disappointingly, Auslin skirts the environmental impact of global warming and runaway population growth. His well-researched, insightful work serves as a wake-up call for those ignoring worrying developments in Asia. Agent: Don Fehr, Trident Media Group.