Eurasia Review
28 February 2017
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- China as Rising Hegemon: Need for Global Cultural Adjustment? – Analysis
China as Rising Hegemon: Need for Global Cultural Adjustment? – Analysis
The global community’s cultural adjustment to China’s rise as a global hegemon will be prolonged and vexatious. Given the long western dominance, the Chinese ‘cultural way’ might be cause of much political tension in East-West relationships.
Notwithstanding US President Donald Trump’s unconventional detractions since assuming office, he will not subvert the current narrative of China’s global rise and the international dislocation of its impact on geopolitical changes and the contest of United States-China relationships. The subtext which the global community will need to adapt to is not just the political, economic and security dimensions but the cultural perspective which undergirds the psychological concerns in the western mindset.
China had no problem imbibing the capitalist economic system in three decades by nationalising it and thriving on it. But the issue of the western adaptation to Chinese culture and society is more likely to be a prolonged and vexing proposition, best captured by Braudel’s concept of the ‘longue duree’ or the long history.
… Victor R. Savage PhD is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
RSIS / Online
Last updated on 01/03/2017
