TWO ASIAS: THE EMERGING POSTCRISIS DIVIDE

Two Asias provides a fresh perspective on the Asia's disparate economic prospects in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis and the Great Recession. The financial crisis, its propagation and real economic consequences are carefully documented, and used in conjunction with prior trends to identify the impending reconfiguration of wealth and power in Asia, and between Asia and the developed west. The study highlights Asia's cultural and systemic diversity, and suggests that China's, Vietnam's and South Korea's extraordinary catch-up during the last two decades is on the cusp of fading due to diverse technical, systemic and global reasons. It shows too that the West has learned little from the 2008 financial crisis, that the planetary macroeconomy is headed for a period of protracted turbulence, all of which suggests that the world community needs to rethink its expectations. These findings are the net assessment of an international team of experts assembled under the auspices of the Japan Foundation's Center for Global Policy, headed by Steven Rosefielde, Masaaki Kuboniwa and Satoshi Mizobata.