Rise of the east in a new clash of civilizations

I was thinking oof writing on the similar lines for quite a long time but could not because of various reasons and wow!!!! I found this article in newspaper. I am copying here the same with all due regards to the author
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Rise-of-the-east-in-a-new-clash-of-civilizations/articleshow/7165562.cms


As this adolescent century unfolds, four competing civilizations will shape it. This new contest of civilizations could determine the balance of power between nations and regions for generations.

"The longer you can look back," Winston Churchill said, "the farther you can look forward." Though in decline, western civilization will continue to influence global policy and culture. The rise of China will establish a powerful Confucian counter-civilizational force with strong roots in history and a sphere of influence arching from the Pacific to Africa. The third major civilization, again deeply rooted in history, will be driven by India's growing hard and soft power. 


My Comments: I agree with the part of rise of China but just to consider China a Confucian civilization is mistake that many people make. China is much more than that it has highly developed philosophy which give space to open mind but at the same time that space has been misused by the greedy people within the system. Similar story unfolded in India in 18th and 19th century and both of us feel from the place we deserve in this world. Like we have so many philosopher starting from Krishna himself and beyond that time to Buddha, Mahavir, Shankracharya and our tradition of shashtrartha (discussion and debates about right path) and DHARAM (righteousness not misinterpret it as religion), similarly Chaina also have rich philosophical heritage. But yes this culture is much more rich and diverse than some of its compititors that are constrained by philosophy of single book.

Strong demographics, a far-flung diaspora and the world's third largest economy will impel India to play a global role unmatched since the golden thousand years between the fifth century BC and fifth century AD when the subcontinent produced two prophets (Buddha and Mahavir Jain), two emperor-statesmen (Ashoka and Chandragupta) and two epics (the "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata" ). 


My Comments: Yup, its poetic way of writing. In fact India produced much more than that. So many books, great poets like Kalidasa and Kalahan and lets not forget Sangam literature of south India, so many scientific advances. We were knowing radius of earth and so many other things when others were not anywhere near it. But then somewhere something went wrong and we lost not only all that lead but we receded and that was all because of this disease of caste system in this country which became stronger over the period of time. Where we denied the access to knowledge to large part of our population. In fact something similar is happening in west now through this patent regime, although not exactly same but quite similar. I am not against intellectual property rights but the way things are in US it is definitely heading south.

The fourth civilizational strain set to compete for space and salience this century is Islam. Though spiritually tethered to Mecca, Islam has not had a centre of gravity since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1917 and the abolition of the Caliphate by Turkey in 1924.


My Comments: Its not because they lost center of gravity its more because they got stuck in one book of faith. And that book is good but the problem is interpretation. They have left it to some very ineligible people. West (Christians) are also people of one book but they have overcome some parts of that book which became irrelevant over the period of time and thats what we call renaissance. It did not reduce the respect of majority towards the book or its philosophers but they opened the door of their mind to knowledge (something that Indian and Chinese had always strive to do since ancient times). Hence Islam need a renaissance, they need to open the doors for knowledge, otherwise they are going to pit against everybody else. And then I do not know who will save them from west once the dependence of west is over on these countries for oil. 

The west is propelled by American and European values, China by its ethnic homogeneity, India by its ancient religions and philosophy. Each has a clear geographical anchor. But Islamic civilization, whose worldwide influence is strong and growing, is as much at home in East Asia ( Indonesia and Malaysia ) as it is in the Arab Middle East, non-Arab Turkey and Iran, the Central Asian republics ( Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan), Eastern Europe ( Bosnia , Albania), North Africa ( Morocco, Libya) and, of course, the Indian subcontinent. Islam transcends nations – both a strength and weakness. 

How will the four competing civilizations engage each other as the 21st century unravels? Consider first their relative economic power. 

According to the IMF, Asia (led by China, Japan and India) will account for 34% of global GDP by 2015. By 2030, Asia's GDP will exceed the combined GDP of the United States and Europe. This is not a shift in the balance of global economic power but a restoration of the status quo. Till 1775, China and India accounted for 50% of global economic output. 

The colonization of Asia and Africa, the Atlantic slave trade and the invasive settlements of the Americas and Australasia wrenched power from east to west. That process is now being reversed by strong economic growth in the east and relative stagnation in the west. 

Each of the four civilizations that will shape this century has threads going back millennia. Ancient Greece and Rome are the precursors of the US-led west. Chinese and Indian civilizations date back to 3,500 BC. Islam, of course, is the youngest of the four civilizational strains but, geographically , it too has predecessors in antiquity: Mesopotamia (today's Iraq), Persia and Egypt. 

While Christian Europe clashed repeatedly with Islam from the eighth century onwards, the west began its slow ascent in the 13th century. Education was the key. Oxford, Cambridge, the Sorbonne and Heidelberg -the great universities of the west-were all founded around this time as seats of ecclesiastical learning. Soon, they evolved into centres of science, arts and the classics. The scientific and industrial revolution that followed the Renaissance in Europe enabled the west to lay the foundation for modern nationstates. 

India and China, meanwhile, lay dormanttwo ancient and weary civilizations in decay. Each was reshaped by contact with the expansionary west and Islam. But their approach to outsiders was markedly different. China's martial dynasties, confident in their 'middle kingdom' self-image of being the centre of the world, treated upstart 17h century British and Dutch emissaries with disdain and remained largely free of western influence (except in coastal Hong Kong). India, fragmented and directionless, was plucked, piece by piece, first by Islam and then by the British Empire. Like a sponge, it absorbed them all and remade them in its own mould. 

Where do Russia and Latin America fit in as world power moves from west to east? Latin America will remain in the west's sphere of influence. So will Russia, though competitive pressures over the Caucasus will be a continuing source of intra-Europe friction. Russia's sharply declining birth rate and population will weaken it. Most of western Europe too will be impaled by ageing and falling populations. 

Throughout history, civilizations have clashed over territory and faith. The 21st century has moderated some of those primal ambitions. But it is in the nature of man to compete for power . The west is weakening, but will remain a global technological and cultural force for much of this century. China and India will be restored to their historical pre-eminence. Islam will have to change from within to compete successfully with other civilizations. It will have to modernize and adapt-hether in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq or Somalia. 

As a young nation but an ancient civilization, India stands out for its diversity and democracy, the two markers that will determine which civilizational strand emerges strongest in an era of contesting but collaborative global values. 

Read more: Rise of the east in a new clash of civilizations - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Rise-of-the-east-in-a-new-clash-of-civilizations/articleshow/7165562.cms#ixzz19fHCDAuy


Now I am adding some of the relevent user comments that were there on the post. It shows that there are people out there who understand it all.


Saratchandran (Australia)
29 Dec, 2010 01:21 PMGun boats and colonization of, knowledge and resourse rich countries in the past, made the West rich,powerful and knowledgeable. The concept of passport and visa is an invention of the West. The purpose of it is to keep the 'loot' for themselves without any thought of sharing. The exploitation has not ceased yet. The dollar based world economic structure,agencies such as the IMF and World bank are symbols of West's need to cling to power as long as it will be possible. Needless to say, we are entering the golden age of the 'Tiger and the Dragon'.


Fazil (London)
26 Dec, 2010 04:22 PMThe big change that will happen with the rise of India and China will be a gradual shift in global politics from the more beligerent Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) to the more tolerant eastern faiths and philosophies of the East (China and India). Islam will need a serious internal debate and reform (which could be traumatic) before Islamic countries are in a position to face the new global balance of power driven by the West, India and China. However, the story will be played out sooner than later with the dwindling of the oil reserve and the new global powers (the West, China, India) going for the grab (in Middle-East)


uv (Mumbai) 
26 Dec, 2010 04:09 PM
Civilizations determined by geographies have always had a cyclical role - some dominant at some time followed by fall at another time. This is a never ending cycle. The key point however historically is that each region had a different model for society construction and that made each society indeed different from another. What is different this time though is that thanks to globalization, both externally as well as internally, there is hardly any differentiation in the society model construct. Whatever label a society may profess through its constitution, the core today for all societies remain chasing for economic prosperity. There are however no role models for any society, no respect for any person or institution in any society and might is right remains the common motto that binds the entire world together as one family as no other time. However, this explosion in interaction between people has also led to huge enhancement in consciousness and given people freedom of choice/ expression in a manner that possibly history never gave any society. Accordingly, to look at the future using the same prism of old-age civilizational construct is dated. The key point is whether modern societies will enhance understanding of purpose of life through new ideas. For the first time after a long time, such new ideas may however come from cooperation amongst societies rather than on a solo basis. These ideas will thereby bind societies in the future rather than geography-based approach

Read more: Rise of the east in a new clash of civilizations - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Rise-of-the-east-in-a-new-clash-of-civilizations/articleshow/7165562.cms#ixzz19fdjlINH