“In the past three years,” as the authors of this book write, “the frontier of the accelerating late industrial revolution has moved beyond Japan to the rest of East and Southeast Asia. The economic take-off of this region…is of historic significance for several reasons: The pace of economic and social change is faster than for any previous area or era…. With 1.8 billion people, the countries of Pacific Asia are much more populous than the original core areas…. In the developing countries of Pacific Asia, modernization is taking place in societies which have long historical traditions and cultures quite different from those of the West.”
The thrust of this book is the need for “community-building” with the emerging East and Southeast Asia on the part of the “Trilateral” areas–Japan, North America, and Europe. “If Pacific Asia joins the Trilateral world as a region of economic prosperity, security, and good government, the countries within a ‘zone of peace’ will be dramatically extended.” Recommendations focus on enhancing international security, continued economic progress, domestic and regional political stability, and accommodating Pacific Asia as “partners in a global community.”
