The Center for Global, International, and Regional Studies at UC Santa Cruz is launching a new initiative called Transforming Asia in the 21st Century: The Political Economy of Asian Integration. Rather than focusing on "hot button" technical issues such as the mounting American trade deficit with Asia, our approach focuses on strategic issues, intra-Asian flows and the impact of Asian development on the stability of existing global political, economic and environmental systems. Our intention is to nurture a spirited yet informed engagement with the critical debates about the Transformation of Asia, so as to clarify the multifaceted consequences flowing from Asia's rapid industrialization and increasing share of the world economy. To be sure, the consequences of the latter will challenge existing global institutional arrangements and, inevitably, lead to a reconfiguration of political power in the international state system. Indeed, because China and India alone represent about 40 % of the world's population, their rapid economic growth will not only transform the world economy, but it will also force a restructuring of inter-state alliances as well as Asian representation in multilateral institutions like the United Nations. At the same time, it is readily apparent that intra-Asian flows of capital, technology, energy, labor, and culture are and will continue to transform all regions of Asia in very new ways while, at the same time, reviving long standing social and cultural networks. Understanding the consequences of this disruptive transformation requires a detailed grasp of Asian perspectives and development policies as well as knowledge of the internal debates among Asians regarding Asia's role in contemporary globalization processes. Cultural, institutional and historical knowledge, therefore, is more important than ever before in understating the truly global consequences of the economic transformation of Asia in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the American public and citizens of California are woefully unprepared for the consequences of this shift in global economic and political power. For this reason the initiative is geared to speak to a wider community, both inside and outside the academic community, especially policy makers, regional planners, non-governmental organizations and private sector actors.
Welcome by Carl Walsh, Vice Provost for Silicon Valley Initiatives and Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz Keynote by Peter Cowhey, Dean of the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, Director of the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), and Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego. Vinod
Aggarwal, Professor of Political Science, Affiliated Professor
of Business and Public Policy in the Haas School of Business, and
Director of the Berkeley APEC Study Center,University of California,
Berkeley Free and Open to the Public. Sponsored by:
with Very Special Thanks to: |
