{"id":21232,"date":"2025-10-12T09:45:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T09:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/symposium.org\/?p=21232"},"modified":"2025-10-12T09:49:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T09:49:44","slug":"is-this-the-asian-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/symposium.org\/is-this-the-asian-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Is This the Asian Century?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Asia is shifting from arena to actor. Europe\u2019s influence depends on how it responds.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Nico Luchsinger\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent images from China\u2014a regional summit followed by a military parade\u2014suggest a world tilting east. Asia is not only driving global growth, but increasingly writing the rules. As economic historian Adam Tooze noted<\/a>, it is both \u201cthe greatest generator of change and the greatest generator of solutions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s new is not just Asia\u2019s importance, but its agency: The region is shifting from arena to actor. The technologies shaping our future, from AI to clean energy, will increasingy come from Asia. If we are to address climate change, the decisions will come from Beijing, Delhi, or Jakarta\u2014not Washington or Brussels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u201cAsia\u201d is no single force. Rivalries run deep: Between China and India, India and Pakistan, and many more. This makes it unlikely we\u2019ll see a unified Asian pole. Instead, we are in an age of hedging\u2014where countries seek shifting, overlapping partnerships rather than fixed alliances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Europe, and for Switzerland, this creates unease but also room to act. Influence today depends on recognizing Asian agency, engaging with empathy, and accepting that rules are shaped by others too. That\u2019s not submission\u2014it\u2019s strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So will the 21st century be remembered as Asia\u2019s? We can\u2019t yet know. But asking the question helps us how what is happening in Asia is influencing us.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n