What is Asia's role in global governance?

By: Matthias Catón
22.12.09 Some thirty experts met on 1 and 2 December in Singapore at the third Country Hearing of the Global Redesign Initiative to discuss Asia’s contribution to the redesign of global governance. The World Economic Forum organized this event together with the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

What does Asia want?

Participants agreed that Asia as a whole had become more assertive, demanding to be heard and being given more power in international fora. The leadership of the West is not accepted unconditionally any more and there is a consensus among Asian nations that they are insufficiently represented in global governance. At the same time the region doesn't seem to have a clear idea of what to do with its increased weight. This leads to the paradox that while "Asia's century is arriving", as one speaker put it, the region's leaders are incapable or unwilling to develop a vision for global governance. Surprisingly unambitious and uninspired, Asia seems happy with evolutionary steps that give it more power within the existing global framework without challenging any of its institutions or processes. Asia seems to want change and continuity at the same time. Apparently, most Asian countries are quite satisfied with the current system of global governance---ironically unlike the West, which, after all, created it. The reason seems to lie in a preference for consultative, non-binding fora that don't touch national sovereignty. The question that remained open is how this structure can help solve today's challenges. Although most of the discussions focused on Asia as a region, several participants emphasized that the region is by no means homogeneous; in fact, it's probably the most heterogeneous continent. A strong sense for pragmatism rather than ideology and a characterization as "sovereignty traditionalists" and "security realists"---as one participant said---is what unites them. A weak sense of a shared Asian identity makes it hard for the region to claim global leadership. Several Asian participants lamented that their region lacked "soft power", that is, a capacity to develop convincing innovative ideas for global governance. To do so, the countries need to integrate first and agree on some set of Asian values, but part of it may also be a cultural issue that makes it more difficult for Asians than for others to take the lead in developing ideas. Several participants expressed their doubts whether Asian leadership would mean more than a few big countries (China, India, Japan, Indonesia) calling the shots. For the smaller and poorer countries, whose focus is primarily on development, a forum below the G20 level should be considered, some speakers suggested.

Opening session with Richard Samans (Managing Director, World Economic Forum), Kishore Mahbubani (Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy) and Raymond Lim (Second Foreign Minister, Singapore)

Can Asia serve as a model?

Asia has several regional and sub-regional organizations, most notably the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The organizations have helped dampen nationalism and conflict between member countries, but have had little impact beyond the region, unless one considers inner-Asian stabilization as an indirect contribution to global governance. Most participants at the Hearing doubted that Asia would have much to offer in terms of models for a new system. The role of non-governmental organizations, such as the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in the security area, was recognized but no specific lessons were drawn. As for newer endeavors such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization the experts deemed it too early to assess their potential impact. Asian pragmatism seems to concentrate on processes rather than results. Western domination in international affairs and Asian complacency are therefore mutually dependent. Despite the general inconclusiveness of the debate around Asia's contribution to the redesign of global governance there were two more concrete proposals that emerged from the discussions. One is to establish an Asia-Africa organization for development cooperation which would include a forum for donor countries as an Asian complement to the OECD's Development Assistance Committee. The other proposal is to establish a new global energy agency, uniting both consumer and producer countries. Asia includes both important consumers and producers and could play a leading role in this undertaking. The decisive question of what Asia will do with its increased weight remained unresolved, however. A full report will be published soon, most likely in January 2010. The views and opinions expressed here are those of Matthias Catón and do not necessarily coincide with those of the World Economic Forum.

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