The Myth of the Asian Century | A Lowy Institute Paper: Penguin Special
  • Published: 14 October 2025
  • ISBN: 9781761357992
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $15.99

The Myth of the Asian Century | A Lowy Institute Paper: Penguin Special

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14 Oct 2025
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It’s time to peel away the layers of a cliché that is not just useless, but harmful.

The claim that the twenty-first century will be Asian, just as the twentieth century was American, is often made but seldom examined. Yet this axiom is not just simplistic, it could also encourage the very rivalry that most threatens Asia’s security and prosperity: between the US and China. Asia is certainly playing a more prominent role in global geopolitics, just as Europe once did and America still does. The purpose of this Paper is to unpack the layers of complexity concealed by the phrase ‘the Asian Century’. The future is too complex to be characterised by any one continent.
  • Published: 14 October 2025
  • ISBN: 9781761357992
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $15.99
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About the author

Bilahari Kausikan

Bilahari Kausikan served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore. Among many appointments during his thirty-seven years in the Ministry, he was Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador to the Russian Federation, and Ambassador-at-Large.

portrait photo of Bilahari Kausikan