Don’t despair over Asia’s future

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s realistic assessment of Asia’s prospects in a sombre global era nevertheless offers reasons for hope. Speaking at the end of the two-day Asia Future Summit to mark the birth centenary of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew last week, PM Lee emphasised that the continent’s future is not pre-determined but depends on the choices that its countries make here and now. They need to uphold and reinforce the open and inclusive regional architecture, deepen regional economic integration, and ensure the stability of their own societies as a bulwark against geopolitical tensions and growing protectionism.

Since these problems are so overwhelming, it is possible to forget that Asia has been through trying times before, especially during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union that followed World War II. True, Asia’s challenges are systemic, that is, they reflect the workings of the international system as a whole. However, that realisation is no cause for despair because the continent is an integral and substantive part of the overall global system and therefore possesses the agency to transform it for the better by getting its own priorities right amid global dissonance.