ABSTRACT
The possible global implications of a ‘rising India’ and certainly of a ‘rising middle’ would require us to go far beyond the bounds of currently reasonable speculation. Consequently, the commentary presented in this chapter limits its speculative remit to the nature of globalization that seems currently to be implied by ‘rising China’. Specifically, the chapter suggests that we may be on the verge of a new form of globalization: a ‘Global-Asian Era’ (GAE). The GAE hypothesis sketched here recognizes that while China may be its initial driving force, we need to acknowledge that there are many factors that could delay or even derail the emergence of a GAE, or at least prevent it from becoming the relatively stable formation that the notion of an ‘era’ implies. The differing histories, natures and interests of the Asian political economies themselves – and hence their geo-political relations – are cases in point, as are the deep, mutual suspicions associated with Sino-US relations.
