Asia is rising and will wield greater economic and strategic weight in world affairs. However, Asia also faces numerous challenges like poverty, domestic instability, deficiencies in governance and the rule of law, interstate disputes and rivalries, and military build-ups, to name just a few. The celebration of Asia's rise would be premature if it is not accompanied by lasting peace and cooperation between states and justice and prosperity at home. The achievement of this happy state of affairs will require wise and pragmatic leadership, especially among the major powers.

This book is a compilation of my opinion pieces over the years which first appeared in the Singapore Straits Times, Business Times, International Herald Tribune, and ISEAS Trends. By their very nature as occasional opinion pieces, they do not pretend to provide a comprehensive picture of the events and issues they deal with. For a long time it had not occurred to me to compile them into a book. It was Professor Tommy Koh who persuaded me to do so. In an age already surfeit with books of varying quality, I would like to believe that this thin volume will provide some feel and flavour of the events and times it depicts.

The title By Design or Accident suggests that history is shaped both by human design and by fortuitous circumstances. The role of leadership, both state and nonstate, is undeniably important. Yet unintended consequences or completely unanticipated developments can make a mockery of the most carefully worked out plans of human genius, whether benign or malign.

The book is divided into a number of parts by theme, with the opinion pieces under each theme arranged chronologically. Inevitably there are pieces which do not fit comfortably into these neat categories. Also, some overlap across sections has been unavoidable.

Part I contains pieces written mostly between the end of the Cold War and the 9/11 attacks on the United States, although it also includes two on ASEAN which were written later. The period was marked by regional rapprochement, the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum, concerns about the future of the American military presence in Asia, and anxieties about how a rising China could be accommodated into the regional and international systems. ASEAN's international standing fluctuated from a peak attained around 1995 to a low in the wake of Asian crisis.