Let's Take Asian Fear of Globalization Seriously 
International Herald Tribune
April 26, 1999
Dru C. Gladney and Christopher B. Johnstone

As the effects of the economic crisis continue to ripple through Asia, a central issue has moved to the forefront of debate: the impact of globalization on Asian societies.

While countries once termed "miracles" struggle to recover from a crisis that in some cases destroyed years of progress in just weeks, mainstream Asian thinkers from India to Japan are pointing to globalization — meaning open borders for flows of finance, business, trade, ideas and cultural values — as a threat to national well-being.

The outcome of this debate will have implications for Asian and Western governments alike.

Before the crisis, many Asian governments enthusiastically welcomed the forces of globalization. Indeed, globalization helped to give legitimacy to a number of regimes, as market liberalization and broader integration into the global economy spurred rapid growth across Asia.

Rising living standards made people willing to tolerate governments that were often authoritarian, a phenomenon sometimes described as "performance-based" legitimacy. In South Korea, Indonesia and China, growing prosperity and political repression went hand in hand.

In essence, Asia saw itself as a "winner" in the new global contest. Behind the Asian embrace of globalization was the assumption that economics could be separated from politics.

The economic crisis has thrown such assumptions into doubt. Asia is now deeply aware of the costs of being a globalization "loser." With millions of people thrown out of work, governments are forced to provide more resources to compensate the victims of global economic and financial forces.

Perhaps more ominous for some Asian governments is that the strategy of separating economics from politics may no longer be viable. Events in Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea make clear that embracing globalization entails political, social and even cultural costs. Transparency, accountability and the rule of law are required by the global economy. These features of globalization are far less welcome in many parts of Asia.

Confronted with such pressures, some Asian leaders have turned to denouncing globalization as a new form of Western imperialism. Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia has accused the West of using financial markets to bring Asia to its knees. Similar sentiment has been voiced by some officials and intellectuals in China, Indonesia, India and Japan.

For now, no Asian countries appear likely to reverse course and reject globalization. Few Asians perceive the North Korean and Burmese models as viable alternatives to the global economy. Some governments, including those of South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, have even welcomed the opportunity for reform.

But a lasting backlash could develop against the West, especially if the current signs of recovery in East Asia fail to live up to their promise. Such a backlash could have serious implications for American influence in the region, and harm Asian interests as well.

The West must abandon triumphalist rhetoric, and recognize that Asian concern over eroding values and social cohesion is legitimate. The possibility of internal fragmentation is real in the multiethnic states that characterize much of Asia.

Asia, in turn, should recognize that Western countries have also been buffeted by globalization, and that managing its challenges will be a central item on the policy agendas of Washington, London, Paris and Bonn long into the 21st century.

The challenge for the West and Asia is to agree that although the window to globalization should be kept open, a screen should be kept firmly in place. With goodwill on both sides, this should be possible.

No nation is immune to the effects of globalization, but all have sought to reap its benefits, even as they work to protect national resources, values and identities considered vital.

Mr. Gladney is a dean at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, and Mr. Johnstone is a research fellow at the center. They contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.

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