Ehito Kimura a Swiss born, American-bred Japanese, works in the field of comparative

politics and Southeast Asian politics. He currently serves as an associate professor of

Political Science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii.
Two processes in tension with one another are occurring in world politics today. First is
the acceleration of globalization. Second is emerging of influence of Asia as a global
force.
Globalization
- Defined as a worldwide world wide integration along economic, political, social
and cultural lines.
Asia
- Term comes from the ancient Greeks who categorized the world into three
continents Europe, Africa and Asia.
- The exact boundaries of Asia have been a matter of contention since its
inception and demarcation has often been made along cultural or political lines.
ASIA PACIFIC
- Area of the world in or around Asia and Pacific Ocean (East Asia, Southeast
Asia, and Oceania.)
- Occasionally refers to a broad area evidenced by the regional grouping APEC
( Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation), which sometimes includes South Asia and
even Central Asia.
- ‘Pacific’ part usually refers to the Pacific Islands ( Oceania ), the island grouping
of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

ASIA PACIFIC AND SOUTH ASIA

- East (or NE) Asia
 - Southeast Asia
- Pacific Islands
- South Asia

VARIOATIONS AMONG STATES AND PEOPLE

- Includes some economically developed states and highly impoverished countries
- Includes largest and most populous states and some of the world’s smallest
populations.
- Variation in geography, political systems, historical experience, and broad
demographic characteristics.

ASIA PCIFIC AND SOUTH ASIA

- Lumped together, the area makes up nearly 1/3 of the world’s land mass and 2/3
of the global population.
- Generate the largest share of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product) at 35%
while Europe (28%) and North America (23%).
- It also accounts for just over a 1/3 of total world exports of merchandise goods.
But still millions of people are affected by:
- Poverty
- Hunger
- HIV/AIDS
- Gender inequality
- And other socio-economic problems

ASIA PACIFIC AND SOUTH ASIA AS A NEW POLITICAL FORCE

- Driven by the robust economic growth in China and India and its strategic
implications
- US implemented ‘Pacific Pivot’ – committing more resources and attention to the
region.
- Shift ‘Atlantic century’ to ‘Pacific Century’
EXTERNALIST VIEW OF GLOBALIZATION

EXTERNALIST VIEW
 - THESIS: Globalization is an external phenomenon being pushed into the region
by world powers.
- Globalization can be understood as a process that transforms the Asia Pacific
and South Asia.

EXTERNALIST VIEW
Positive
- Brings economic development
- Political progress
- Social and cultural diversity
Negative
- Economic underdevelopment
- Uprooting of local and tradition and culture

EXTERNALIST VIEW
 One of the earliest manifestations
o Western arrival in the Asia Pacific and South Asia
 Western powers prodded and muscled their way to political and
economic dominance.

EXTERNALIST VIEW
WESTERN SUPERIOIRITY
 Environmental / Ecological Advantage
 Cultural Characteristics
 Political Advantage
 Social Advantage

EXTERNALIST VIEW
 Colonialism (beginning 1500s) – brought enormous, often devastating damages
 This ‘first globalization’ had deep implications for domestic political structures in
many indigenous polities.

EXTERNALIST VIEW
Examples:
 - Portuguese Invasion Melaka in 1511
- Arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines in 1521
- The Dutch strengthened their position in the Dutch East Indies in the 17 th Century
- British also consolidated their power in South Asia, Burma and Malay Peninsula
- French took control of Indo-China in the late 19 th century.

EXTERNALIST VIEW
 Mode of colonial rule and domination – varied
 Direct colonial rule vs. Indirect rule
 Europeans brought new:
o Economic practices
o Religious beliefs
o Cultural values
o Political structures
EXTERNALIST VIEW
Even places that did not experience colonial rule decidedly had to deal with the
consequences of Western influence.
Ex.
- Japan ( Coming of the Americas -> Meiji Restoration)
- Thailand (changes during the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and King
Chulalongkorn (Rama V) –“Great Modernizer”
EXTERNALIST VIEW
19th – 20th Century – Emergence of movements for Nationalism and Independence
- These movements were also products of an increasingly globalized world
- Scholars argue that the roots of national identity lie in the rise of Western
industrialization and capitalism
- Example: Jose Rizal.
EXTERNALIST VIEW
 World War II – marks another way in which the region comes to be at once
integrated and influenced by external forces.
o Marked the beginning of the end of Japan’s imperial domination in the
region.
 The region became mired in the emerging politics of the Cold war.

 After World War II

o Political instability
o Economic reform
 o Fall of China
 US stressed Japan’s economic growth and its incorporation into the world
economy.
 US – opened markets for Japanese goods
 Japan – supply equipment and goods for US forces and other aid programs.
o Became part of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT)

EXTERNALIST VIEW
East Asia
- Relatively close ties between state and business elite
- Some degree of autonomous decision-making structure
- Rise of manufacturing
Southeast Asia
- Relatively close ties between state and business elite
- Some degree of autonomous decision-making structure
- Rise of manufacturing
- Much more reliant on infusions of foreign capital, based on fixed exchange rate
policies and corresponding investments and returns

EXPERNALIST VIEW
• Much of the rise in financial investment can also be attributed to the role of
International Financial Institutions (IFls)

— Ex. World Bank & International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• Cornerstones of economic liberation and globalization in the post-war global

economy

• Initially designed to help rebuild Europe

• Soon turned their attention to the developing world including Southeast Asia

• During the Cold War, they promoted neo-liberal economic policies

EXPERNALIST VIEW

Examples:

• Indonesia
 - Suharto's policies and the economic framework under the IMF and World Bank
provided crucial assistance as well as foundation for the legitimacy of the
authoritarian Suharto regime

• Thailand

- IMF and World Bank pushed liberalization and export oriented growth which led
to increasing amounts of foreign investment and double digit GDP growth

• Philippines

- IMF and World Bank had a cozy relationship with Ferdinand Marcos whose
tenure had a disastrous impact on the country's economy and left it with nearly
US$30 billion in debt.

EXTERNALIST VIEW

• Mid 1990s, the policies that had driven high levels of growth in the 'tiger' economies
began to show their limits.

- Much of the investments going to Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia — 'hot'

money looking for quick returns on capital.

- When investors began to realize the unsustainability of this model, financial

speculators began to attack the currencies — central banks would have to
readjust their rates.

EXTERNALIST VIEW

• July 1997 — Thai economy collapsed

- Investment fled like a massive herd

- Crisis spread to much of the region (Asian Financial Crisis)

EXTERNALIST VIEW

CHINA

- began liberalizing their economy in the late 1970s with the reforms introduced by
Deng Xiaoping.

INDIA

- began to liberalize their economy in 1991 and increased levels of trade and
foreign direct investment particularly in
 the textile and services sectors of the economy.

Both countries have experienced high levels of economic growth as a

result and have also become much more integrated into the global economy including
membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO)

EXTERNALIST VIEW

• Working Conditions

- In Asia Pacific — labor practices are undergoing significant changes

- Japan, Korea, Australia — a more global economy has meant an uptick in non-
standard employment, characterized by temporary and part-time employment.

- Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam — there has been an increase in informal

employment such as self-employment, family workers, and informal enterprise
workers

- Philippines — 18% of workers are underemployed

- Indonesia — nearly quarter of all workers are either unemployed or involuntarily

underemployed

EXTERNALIST VIEW

• Politics

- Proponents often argue that liberal and democratic political values should not be
interpreted as Western, but rather universal thus explaining the expansion of
democracy worldwide.
- The past 3 decades have witnessed the substantial fall in authoritarian regimes
with a corresponding rise in democratic regimes.

• Attributed to rising middle classes, more globally connected world, and end of
Cold War
• Example:

- Fall of Suharto's regime in Indonesia

o When the Asia Financial Crisis brought the country's economy to its
knees, large-scale protests, the flight of capital, and the lack of
international support ed Suharto to step down in May 1998

EXTERNALIST VIEW

• Effects on Culture
 - Globalization is leading to cultural homogenization and the destruction of cultural
diversity.

- Cultural Westernization (McWorld)

• Increase of McDonalds stores in Asia

- domestic fast food chains also popped up throughout Asia

• Jollibee (Philippines)

• California Fried Chicken (Indonesia)

• MOS Burger (Japan)

• Jumbo King (India)

- Rapid expansion of supermarkets

• Diets in Asia -5 Westernized

EXTERNALIST VIEW

- Changes in music, clothing, television, and film.

- MTV-ization or Hollywoodization

- Western and American cultural trends have spread globally and increasingly
marginalize the way in which local cultural practices are expressed.

EXTERNALIST VIEW

 Globalization and the region of Asia Pacific and South Asia can be viewed as
largely one-way process whereby outside forces have brought fundamental and
far-reaching changes to the region, for better or for worse, in ways that would not
have occurred otherwise.