1 Jul 2025
Can Asians Think? Yes, they can, but they don’t, and won’t
I have been following the lectures and writings of eminent Singaporean political scientist Prof Kishore Mahbubani ever since reading his first book, “Can Asians Think?” in 1999. My takeaway answer then was: Yes, they can, but they don’t, and won’t. After listening to yet another of his thought-provoking lectures on June 30, I came to the sad conclusion that my 1999 takeaway remains valid today, perhaps even more so.
Focussing on the simple topic of “Geopolitics,” the webinar lecture was organised by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia. More than 200 young political scientists from right across Asia heard him forecast that much more geopolitical disruption is in the cards as the US strives to remain the global Top Dog and keep all other powers in check, especially China.
“Geopolitics is a very cruel business. Very cruel business,” Prof Mahbubani said.” Let’s say you run a business. In most businesses, if you don’t do well, you lose money, you go bankrupt, but you carry on. Life carries on. In geopolitics, if you do badly, the likelihood is that a war starts and many people die. And unfortunately, geopolitics seems to be ingrained into human nature because it has been around for 2,000 years plus. And because it has been around for 2,000 years, we thought that now we are so clever, so well educated, we are liberated from the laws of geopolitics. Sadly, we are not.”
Asia can withstand the swirling storms, he said, but only if Asians learn the lessons of history. His answer to the concluding question (posed in the screenshot image above) was a classic:
“Well, I would say that colonialism of the mind carries on. I’ve written 10 books, and I find that Asians like to read books written by white men on the same subject, rather than by Asians. And that’s the perfect example of colonialism of the mind, by the mind. They believe that in one way or another, the white man is smarter than the Asians.
“When I was growing up, when I was a child, I did believe that the white people were superior to us Asians. My parents believed that, and I believed that. But, you know, times have changed. So I think it is important for Asians to develop greater cultural self confidence in ourselves. And they’ve got to understand that the future (lies in understanding) how Asian countries should get along with each other. We have to go back to our own history. We don’t have to follow European norms.
“European norms are black and white. You’re either with me or against me. That’s how Europeans think. That’s not how we should behave. In Asia, we compromise. And I like the Indonesian concept of Musyawarah-Mufakat, which means consultation and consensus. So don’t fight each other. Talk to each other, and compromise. So that’s what we in Asia should be doing. We need to develop an Asian way of thinking in dealing with these challenges that are coming.”
Many thanks to the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia for organising the event and to Ibu Sukmawani for her precise and professional moderation.
Read my article on his book (click here).
