Reflections on Asia in the 21st CenturyVolker Stanzel

ASIEN – Nr. 100 (2006) pp. 79–84

Many, if not most readers will possess „mental maps“ giving them orientation in the political, societal and of course geographical world around them, maps which have been imprinted upon their consciousness during the 20th century. The fact that seven years ago our calendars started to show a new century in itself has nothing to do with a change in our environment or in our minds. The turn of a century is, however, a convenient date to take stock of things that have changed over the past decades. Indeed, we observe changes in the world so dramatic that we need to ask ourselves whether we still have the right maps in our minds or whether the ones we still use might not mislead us and show us the wrong direction when we try to find our way ahead. It is mainly three phenomena, which have changed our world, and all of them in important ways have to do with Asia…