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Kishore Mahbubani

Dean & Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Kishore Mahbubani was appointed Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy on 16 August 2004 after having served 33 years in the Singapore Foreign Service (with postings in Cambodia, Malaysia, Washington DC and twice as Ambassador to the UN, during which he also served as President of the Security Council). He was the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry from 1993-1998.

He is the author of Can Asians Think? published in Singapore, Canada, US, Mexico, India and People’s Republic of China and of Beyond The Age of Innocence: Rebuilding Trust between America and the World. His new book entitled The New Asian Hemisphere: the Irresistible Shift of Gobal Power to the East was published in New York in February 2008. He was also listed as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines in September 2005.

Kishore Mahbubani: What does the West not understand about Asia?

Long before the colonial powers arrived, Asia had its own centers of civilization, Mahbubani says.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Western Misconceptions of Asia's Resurgence

The West cannot imagine a world in which it isn’t the dominant power.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Who are you?

Mahbubani’s Sindhi family was part of a small minority in the Singaporean melting pot.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Freedom of the Press in Singapore

If living standards are high and risk of ethnic violence low, why not loosen press restrictions?

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Kishore Mahbubani: Are China’s U.S. Dollar reserves at risk of inflation?

Buying up U.S. currency was the smartest move China ever made, Mahbubani says.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Should sovereign wealth funds be more transparent?

Should they be transparent to the world? To the citizens of their own countries?

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Kishore Mahbubani Do you foresee more wars over resources?

Wars, Mahbubani says, are a sunset industry.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Is it fair to ask developing countries to go green?

Everyone wants to be green, Mahbubani says. It just has to be done fairly.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Is there really a clash of civilizations?

Only if you see the world through a 1945 lens, says Mahbubani.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Modernity in the Islamic World

With the Asian model as an example, moderate Muslims can take a middle path to modernity, Mahbubani says.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Is America in decline?

America shouldn’;t run away from new competition, Mahbubani says.

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Kishore Mahbubani: How can the U.N. adapt to a new reality?

America should stop seeing multi-lateralism as a threat to its power, Mahbubani says.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Is the West afraid of a rising Asia?

His book, Mahbubani says, brings good news.

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Kishore Mahbubani: What are Asian values?

Mahbubani says Asians have rejected the West as a cultural ideal.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Economic Progress, But No Human Rights

Give Asia time, Mahbubani says. Progress is coming.

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Kishore Mahbubani: Would the world be a better place if Asians were ruling the world?

The U.S. has squandered its intellectual honesty, Mahbubani says.

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Kishore Mahbubani: What does Asia not understand about the West?

Why is the West becoming the most close-minded corner of the world, Mahbubani wonders?

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Kishore Mahbubani: : Is the East-West Narrative Dead?

Mahbubani adapts the old East-West narrative.

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Kishore Mahbubani: How do you account for the rise of ethno-nationalism?

When looking at Asia, Mahbubani thinks its important to distinguish between inter and intrastate tensions.

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Kishore Mahbubani: How do you define modernity?

In the West, it has a cultural connotation, but in the East, Mahbubani says, it only means achieving material success.

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Kishore Mahbubani:Why are Asian countries proponents of free-market economics?

Because it works, Mahbubani says.

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Kishore Mahbubani: What is fueling Asia’s growth?

The East is overtaking the West by adapting Western methods, Mahbubani says.

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Kishore Mahbubani:The New Asian Hemisphere

The East is again eclipsing the West, Mahbubani says.

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