Why This Book?

Asia today has wind in its sails. In one significant shift in international relations emerging from the global economic and financial crisis of 2008–10, the balance of influence is tilting toward Asia, and away from the West, based on the momentum (if not yet the weight) of Asia's economic performance and the geostrategic potential with which this rapidly increasing wealth endows the continent.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the West frittered away its moment of advantage at the conclusion of the Cold War. Meanwhile, Asia tended to its vulnerabilities, which remained, overwhelmingly, economic ones. The focus on economic growth throughout much of Asia has paid off.