Globalization, regionalism and the myth of the Asian century

In earlier chapters, we found that one cannot fully understand politics and government in Pacific Asian countries without grasping the impact of the international system, regional structure and transnational dynamics and movements. From colonialism to independent movements, from modernization to globalization, from Marxism and socialism to capitalism and democracy, all these major ideas, movements and institutional developments in Pacific Asian countries have their sources or roots outside their countries and outside this region. Conversely, politics and government in Pacific Asia have been sources of international tensions, confrontation, war, as well as development and world order.