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| World Marketplace |
Asian Fusion
Ellen Frost
06/01/2005
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What should be of
particular concern to the U.S. is that our recent perceived neglect has, as Koh
says, put us “in danger of losing the contest for the hearts and minds of the
Muslim world.” This is a region that is home to 250 million Muslims, who
practice their religion in a tolerant manner, within a multicultural society.
“The U.S.,” Koh says, “should acknowledge Malaysia and Indonesia as role models
for other Muslim countries.”
Our one-sided agenda in Asia focuses
overwhelmingly on antiterrorism, nonproliferation and protection of our
homeland. The invasion of Iraq and lopsided endorsement of heavy-handed
Israeli policies have fed the notion that Americans are enemies of Islam. The
ensuing upsurge of anti-Americanism contributes to terrorism and other protest
movements that threaten to destabilize Asian governments.
President Bush’s
administration has alienated Asians by delaying or denying visas to students and
other visitors. The State Department has only barely begun to rebuild the
once-popular U.S. information services and libraries abroad ravaged by Senator
Jesse Helms’ budget cutting in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Visiting
Southeast Asia in 2003, Chinese President Hu Jintao won praise for his
cooperative spirit and willingness to listen. By contrast, Bush’s visit at the
same time left Asians with a one-note, take-it-or-leave-it message centered on
terrorism.
On top of a policy that comes across as tin-ear moralizing, our
economic behavior troubles the Asians. Like their European counterparts, East
Asia’s central bankers and finance ministers believe that the United States’
addiction to spending has created the risk of a global hard landing in which all
will suffer. The United States’ record-high trade deficit ($617 billion in 2004)
and yawning budget deficit are widely believed to be unsustainable. Meanwhile,
the declining dollar has drained much of the value of Asia’s huge dollar
reserves.
Crisis Management
One of the primary reasons that East Asian nations want
to strengthen their regional ties is that they believe it will help them gain a
stronger collective voice in international institutions, particularly the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The suffering that
swept the region following the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 left lingering
disillusionment not only with the IMF but also with the United States. East
Asians want to be in a stronger position to head off or cope with another
crisis. They have already negotiated a series of swap agreements and are
discussing ways to improve cross-border capital flows and correct weak points,
such as the region’s overdependence on local bank loans and the absence of a
regional bond market.
The Asian financial crisis provided an unexpected
opportunity for China to emerge as an influential community builder. As the
crisis intensified, China stepped forward with a series of highly visible
near-term measures to promote trade, tourism and outward Chinese investment in
Southeast Asia. The Chinese also got credit for not devaluing their currency. By
contrast, when the Thai baht collapsed in July 1997, triggering the crisis,
Washington stood by watching—and then helped Mexico.
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