\u201cThe world has changed fundamentally \u2013 we must understand that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut our problem is that the mental maps that we have to understand this new world, our mental maps given to us by our 19th century, 20th century [social scientists] \u2013 mostly Western \u2013 cannot guide us in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n This was because the current century would be far different from the two previous centuries, said Dr Mahbubani, a member of the Asia Research Institute.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I have tried to do in my writing is to provide a glimpse of what the 21st century will be like.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I have also tried to explain why this is relevant to those studying social science.\u201d<\/p>\n As well as his books, Professor Mahbubani has published extensively in leading journals and newspapers overseas such as\u00a0Foreign Affairs<\/em>, the\u00a0National Interest<\/em>,\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Wall Street Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n New trends, new challenges<\/strong> \u201cA shift of power to Asia [is taking place] and the 21st century will be the Century of Asia. We need to be very clear about that. There is absolutely no doubt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This was not surprising, he said, because for 18 centuries of the past 2000 years, the world had been dominated by two Asia economies \u2013 China and India.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is only in the last 200 years that Europe and North America have taken over. So the last 200 years of Western dominance of world history has been an aberration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll aberrations come to a natural end. So it is only natural to see the return of Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n The covid-19 coronavirus pandemic was hastening the world change, partly because the most competent countries in dealing with the global crisis had been in East Asia, he said, echoing what he told BBC\u00a0Hardtalk\u2019s<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Zeinab Badawi recently.<\/p>\n He said then that the number of deaths per million in East Asia was less than 10 compared to Europe and the US where it was in the hundreds.<\/p>\n \u2018Top three out of four in Asia\u2019<\/strong> \u201cSo three out of the top four economies are already Asian.\u201d<\/p>\n Professor Mahbubani also told the live video\u00a0symposium participants<\/a>, hosted by the\u00a0Centre for Southeast Asian Social Studies<\/a>\u00a0at the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, that Indonesia would be a \u201cbig beneficiary\u201d of this global change.<\/p>\n And in market terms it was much harder.<\/p>\n \u201cIndonesia in 2017 was the 16th largest economy in the world. By 2030 it will become the ninth largest economy, and by 2050 it will be the fourth largest \u2013 bigger than Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n These were the big changes coming, but the world was still outdated with mind maps being set in the 19th and 20th centuries.<\/p>\n \u2018Dangerous\u2019 to rely on West<\/strong> Professor Mahbubani was critical of the double standards in the United States over corruption when it was illegal for American businessmen to bribe foreign legislators while it remained legal for businessmen to influence lawmakers at home, especially over the privatised health system.<\/p>\n He said he believed that the US had lost its moral compass and its current failure under President Donald Trump to stem the coronavirus pandemic and to deal constructively with China and other countries was a warning to the world.<\/p>\n The country was no longer a democracy, it was a plutocracy.<\/p>\n Climate change was an event greater issue than covid facing the globe.<\/p>\n Professor Mahbubani said the world needed a strong US to balance China.<\/p>\n The stimulating\u00a0two-day webinar<\/a>\u00a0had speakers and research papers from all over Asia, but also included foreign presenters such as Australia\u2019s\u00a0Dr Daniel McCarthy<\/a>\u00a0of the University of Melbourne on \u201canother face of power\u201d and New Zealand\u2019s\u00a0Professor David Robie<\/a>\u00a0of Auckland University Technology on\u00a0climate change and covid-19<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201credefining the relations between humankind and the environment\u201d.<\/p>\n Selected papers will be published in a book to follow the publication from the first Social Science Symposium in 2018.<\/p>\n The Pacific Media Centre was a partner of Indonesia\u2019s\u00a0Centre for Southeast Asian Social Studies<\/a>\u00a0for this symposium.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/webinar_socialscience2020_kishore_mahbubani.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nHis\u00a0wide-ranging speech<\/a>\u00a0explored new trends in the world, new challenges and new solutions.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cEven today, in terms of purchasing power as a measurement, if you look at the top four economies: number one is China, number two is the United States of America, number three is India, and number four is Japan.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt is dangerous for us to depend on Western social science to understand the Asian century,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n