Book review
Can Asians think? Is Western civilization universal? Does the West promote human rights for altruistic reasons?

These are some questions Kishore Mahbubani has sought to answer in this volume of essays written over the past decade.

Contrary to the prevailing view in the West that the centuries-old dominance of Western civilization points to it being the only universal civilization, Can Asians Think? argues that Asia is now witnessing a major cultural rediscovery. Asian civilizations, by moving from Western models to those evolved from their own rich heritage, are beginning to contribute to the development and growth of mankind in the measure that one one would expect from there large and diverse continent. Mahbubani, hailed as 'an Asian Toynbee' and 'the Max Weber of the new Confucian ethic', continues to illuminate his central arguments, in this revised and updated edition, adding two new essays on power, responsibility and the United Nations.


Press Review(s) for Can Asians Think? Understanding the Divide between East and West

��well-paced and stimulating reading� �Biblio

'Mahbubani writes with a diplomat's charm, gleefully untangling political knots into simple threads. This book has a special force because it comes from a man who is a prototype 21st century leader�� � Joshua Cooper Ramo, Time magazine

'This book is a collection of absolutely first-rate essays, elegantly written and intellectually provocative. Mahbubani has an instinct for the jugular when it comes to identifying a critical issue and setting forth a powerful thesis concerning it. This book will make Asians and everybody think better then they have.' � Samuel P. Huntington, Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor, Harvard University; author of The Clash of Civilizations.

� Published by Penguin Books India
� Published: 1 August 2004
� Imprint: Penguin
� Edition: Paperback
� Format: Demy
� Extent: 272pp
� Classification: Non Fiction


About the author Kishore Mahbubani is both a career diplomat and a writer/scholar. He has travelled extensively around the world, participated in many seminars and conferences and has had two tours of duty at the United Nations. He was awarded the President's Scholarship in 1967. He was a fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University in 1991�92. Mahbubani has been in the Singapore Foreign Service since 1971. He served as the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1998. Mahbubani is currently serving as Singapore's ambassador to the United Nations, New York and concurrently, as Singapore's High Commissioner to Canada.