ABSTRACT
The high hopes for the Pacific Asian region that followed decolonization and the end of the Second World War began to falter during the 1960s and 1970s. However, by the mid-1980s a resurgent optimism had brought increasing acceptance of a new image of Pacific Asia. At the core is the view that the region represents a unique demonstration of the transition from poverty to relative affluence, largely attributable to booming export-driven economic growth. It corresponds with the re-emergence of the expectation that the West stands to derive windfall benefits from the changes taking place; hence the title of the chapter…‘What’s in it for us?’.
