Global Asia - March 2019

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The world is edging into another technological transformation, the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. The last one, centered on the Internet, PCs and smartphones, gave birth to tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon, as well as China’s Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. But the coming revolution promises more radical changes and could upend global business models, impacting societies in ways only starting to be imagined. Developments in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, Big Data, machine learning, the Internet of Things, new frontiers in medicine, science, transportation and municipal governance herald the next Brave New World.

These developments come as decades of widening income and wealth gaps and a political backlash against globalization have given new life to an age-old scourge of international co-operation: nationalism. From the US to the UK and other parts of Europe, and China and beyond, nationalism has again reared its ugly head and promises to be a potent force in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The recent horrific events in New Zealand serve as a reminder to the Asia-Pacific region that the pathologies of race-based nationalist extremism, amplified by social media networks, are a threat to peace all over the world.

In our cover package, we look at how techno-nationalism is likely to shape the use and possible misuse of emerging technologies in this new era of nationalist-driven geopolitical rivalry, especially between the US and China. Given Asia’s leading role in many cutting-edge technologies, countries in the region will have to find new modes of remaining competitive, while grappling with the national-security implications of advances being made by potential rivals.

Global Asia Magazine Description:

Global Asia is a quarterly publication of the East Asia Foundation. The foundation, established in Seoul in January 2005, strives to promote peace, prosperity, security and sustainability in East Asia by creating an open and creative forum for the exchange of ideas on regional co-operation and integration, among other goals.
The mission we have set for ourselves with Global Asia is both bold and urgent: It is to provide a compelling, serious, and responsible forum for distinguished thinkers, policymakers, political leaders and business people to debate the most important issues in Asia today.
Global Asia is not a journal with a fixed point of view, or a particular agenda. Our aim is to give voice to the global dimension of what is happening in Asia. In our pages and on our web site, we aim for Asia to speak to the world, and the world to Asia. That is important at a time when this region is playing an ever greater role in world affairs.
There are other fine publications on international affairs. What sets us apart is our focus: Asia. We believe that the world is moving into “the Age of Asia,” to borrow a phrase from one of the articles in the inaugural issue of Global Asia in September 2006. This transformation is not going to occur overnight, but it has already begun.
The region’s dynamic economic growth, stable and accountable political systems, maturing democracies, and evolving sense of community are giving Asia greater weight in the world. These developments will have enormous implications for governments, businesses, societies and individuals across the globe. How that transformation is viewed, and shaped, from within Asia and how it is perceived outside Asia is an essential part of the story we have to tell.
The forces of globalization are having a profound impact throughout the world. And they are being influenced and channeled in different ways in different parts of the world. Ours is the story of Asia’s experience with globalization, and the ideas and debates influencing it. In pursuing our mission, we aim to play a part, however modest, in helping to shape the future of Asia.