My Take | The times they are a-changin’ for the West
- Washington and Brussels may celebrate their new-found unity of purpose and commonality of values, but don’t be surprised when countries in Asia and elsewhere do not share them
The West has suddenly rediscovered unity and purpose. That’s grand! But the rest of the world may be forgiven for not sharing the excitement.
Other countries don’t need to be told who they should make friends with or confront as enemies. They know what their own interests are, and increasingly have the political and economic clout to state their demands. The Cold War is a thing of the past.
It will take a while for those in Washington and Brussels to realise their futile overreach. But they may do well to start listening to other people’s voices than their own.
Lee welcomes renewed US engagement in Asia, but finds it offensive that it tries to force countries in the region to gang up on China. Pressuring Asian countries to reject Beijing’s overtures of cooperation “is not just unrealistic, it is wrong”, he said.
Instead, Washington should maintain “an overlapping and constructive engagement in the region” and find a way to reach a mutually agreeable arrangement with Beijing to avoid destabilising the region. Wise words, but likely to fall on deaf ears.