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# Democracy in the "Asian century"
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democracy-in-asian-century/
- Published: 2014-02-18T05:02:47.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:23:12.000Z
- Description: A shift of global power to the east exposes the west's domestic as well as international weaknesses, say Ernesto Gallo & Giovanni Biava.
- Author: Ernesto Gallo
- Tags: China, East & SE Asia, #Migrated, Europe, Oceania, Politics & activism, democracy & power, globalisation, Thailand, asia & pacific, Democracy and government, International politics, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:46

Thailand’s deep political unrest, dominated by protests in Bangkok that began in October 2013, may appear a solely national issue. It does of course reflect particular national problems. But it also resembles what is happening in domestic and international [politics](https://www.polity.co.uk/book.asp?ref=9780745664590) at the global level.

In a sense, the protest can be seen as an effort to [channel](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/17/us-thailand-protest-idUSBREA1G05X20140217?ref=opendemocracy.net) the voice of millions of disaffected Thai citizens. It could thus be seen as an embodiment of more-or-less conscious democratic spirit. Although the [protesters](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/thai-government-weakened-by-protests-forced-to-beg-for-access-to-its-own-offices/article16602779/?ref=opendemocracy.net) are based mainly in Bangkok, not all of them belong to a supposedly anti-democratic elite, as much of the western media initially reported; the opposition has also gained support among the city’s working classes. A crucial point, however, is that their [demands](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/opinion/the-last-gasp-of-thai-paternalism.html?%5Fr=0&ref=opendemocracy.net) remain rather generic and not particularly constructive. 

It's intriguing to note that the protesters' invitation to a press briefing was accepted only by two countries, Switzerland and...Russia. The government, meanwhile - a populist and corrupt democracy, headed by the sister of the billionaire media tycoon [Thaksin Shinawatra](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ddf703c8-87ce-11e3-ba87-00144feab7de.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) \- has been supported by the United States. The parallel with the current world order is striking: on the one hand, there are various forms of flawed democracy, often controlled by financial oligarchies; on the other, a rising tide of protests which often lack coherent political design and include authoritarian tendencies. In this context, the US’s ineffectiveness and the failures of the [European Union](http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754677215?ref=opendemocracy.net) have made a negative contribution.

**An Asia-centric world**

During recent months, American foreign policy has overall focused mainly on economic projects and initiatives. Washington is driven by the misguided conviction that free trade and the market will bring about democracy, rights and the rule of law. Barack Obama's administration is at present keen on fast-tracking the [Trans-Pacific Partnership](http://www.ustr.gov/tpp?ref=opendemocracy.net) (TPP), a free-trade agreement of countries in the Asia-Pacific [region](http://www.apec.org/Groups/Other-Groups/FTA%5FRTA.aspx?ref=opendemocracy.net), the negotiations for which (on the US’s side) started in 2008.

Even on this issue, however, Washington has demonstrated weak political leadership. Only Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore are currently [parties](http://www.cfr.org/japan/japan-boosts-trans-pacific-partnership/p31206?ref=opendemocracy.net) to the agreement. South Korea, on 10 January 2014, [expressed](http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/01/13/seoul-affirms-interest-in-joining-tpp-but-says-china-deal-comes-first/?ref=opendemocracy.net) its preference for a free-trade [agreement](http://www.bilaterals.org/?-Asia-Pacific-&ref=opendemocracy.net) with China, raising the question of whether this would mean China's exclusion from the TPP. The latter would be a big mistake: direct negotiations could provide Washington and Beijing with a real opportunity to start a dialogue on practical issues, while an intercontinental commercial deal would leave China’s leading financial and trade centres outside.

The TPP has also been heavily criticised on both sides of the Atlantic by workers’ organisations which fear social rights would be put in jeopardy; [Joseph Stiglitz](http://www.josephstiglitz.com/?ref=opendemocracy.net), recipient of economics' equivalent of the Nobel prize winner, warned the negotiators about severe risks in areas of copyright and intellectual property. In the same early weeks of 2014, China announced its intention to speed up the signing of a free-trade agreement with the [Gulf Cooperation Council](http://www.gcc-sg.org/eng/?ref=opendemocracy.net) (GCC) countries, which are major oil exporters and whose trade with China is worth more than $150 billion a year. Beijing, for its part, is unleashing momentous plans in the form of two "economic silk roads" - one [overland](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013xivisitcenterasia/2013-09/07/content%5F16951811.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) via central Asia, the other [across](http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/china-moots-maritime-silk-road/article5690288.ece?ref=opendemocracy.net) the Indian Ocean towards the Mediterranean. China’s key interest lies in [energy](http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=CH&ref=opendemocracy.net) sources, but a by-product might be the strengthening of authoritarian regimes in all the regions involved: east Asia, central Asia, and the middle east.

The larger picture is that increasingly, "Asian" international politics is and will be controlled by Asian countries (or better, "Eurasian", if Russia is included). In itself this is a positive step, but what will be the [effects](http://www.opendemocracy.net/ernesto-gallo-giovanni-biava/democracy-in-credit-new-agency-new-order) on democracy? What too will be the impact on relations with countries in other world regions; are Asian states promoting their own version of a "[Monroe doctrine](http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=23&ref=opendemocracy.net)" - effectively a politics of "Asia for the Asians"?

**A lost west**

In this respect, 2014 is be a crucial year. Nato forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan, and the foreign secretaries of Russia, China, and India have started [coordinating](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-01/16/content%5F17240254.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) efforts to support "peace and stability" in that country. The "three-powers' alliance" was originally proposed by the former Russian foreign minister [Yevgeny Primakov](http://valdaiclub.com/authors/26761.html?ref=opendemocracy.net), who as early as the 1990s aimed at forging a counterbalancing power to US hegemony. Almost twenty years later, the three states have become far more powerful, but Russia has evolved in an authoritarian way, and only India, despite evident problems (including rising economic inequality) can be called a democracy. The country holds national [elections](http://eci.nic.in/eci%5Fmain1/terms%5Fof%5Fhouses.aspx?ref=opendemocracy.net) by the end of May 2014: the likely victory of the right-wing Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, will intensify [questions](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674050662&ref=opendemocracy.net) about the future of Indian democracy. 

Across the world, millions of citizens are [increasingly](http://www.economist.com/blogs/theworldin2014/2013/12/social-unrest-2014?ref=opendemocracy.net) dissatisfied and angry - and ever more willing to [take](http://www.versobooks.com/books/1075-why-its-kicking-off-everywhere?ref=opendemocracy.net) to the streets. This is evident in Egypt, Turkey, Ukraine, and of course Thailand. People are voicing protest against what they [perceive](http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/are-protesters-overthrowing-a-brutal-despot-or-merely-bad-losers-at-the-polls-9131002.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) as corrupt, oligarchic, pseudo-democratic regimes, which are in fact controlled by military, economic or financial elites. However, many protests lack a positive vision. 

It may seem paradoxical, but the west might have [something](http://www.opendemocracy.net/ernesto-gallo-giovanni-biava/western-democracy-decline-and) to learn even from authoritarian states like China and Russia. After all, western democracies in the recent past adopted social-democratic models in part as a response to, and in a compromise with, the Soviet Union. Where Russia is concerned, the events of 2013-14 show the strength of a planned and strongly directed [foreign policy](http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/tag/Russia%27s%5Fforeign%5Fpolicy?ref=opendemocracy.net); even though its contents can be questioned, its coherence contrasts with the US’s improvisations and the EU’s tragicomic weakness. China over the last two decades has [lifted](http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:20634060~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:469382,00.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) tens of millions of people out of poverty; this is a social [achievement](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674050204&ref=opendemocracy.net) which the west cannot ignore, and should try to reproduce while using in democratic forms.

A strong [democracy](http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10055.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) should not fear anything and be brave enough to selectively imitate other political forms. Perhaps European and American governments should be humble and take note; 21st-century democracy will require innovative ideas, strength, and a sense of purpose, all of which are in short supply in the west.