ABSTRACT
Logically, persons influenced by such Asian cultural imperatives would view dispute resolution in a person-oriented, non-adversarial way. The natural inclination of Asians is to lean toward the softer ADRs3 namely, negotiation, consultation, mediation, conciliation. By contrast, Westerners have a cultural tendency to prefer litigation in the settlement of disputes and, to the extent they employ arbitration, tend toward its more adversarial forms making it barely distinguishable from litigation (Coombe, 1996:708). However, cultural predisposition with respect to dispute-resolution must be seen in a larger context of forces both internal and external - operating in Asia today. These forces are, and will be, driving the direction and pace of legal development of regimes designed to resolve public and private trade disputes for the foreseeable future.
