In the 19th century, the world was Europeanized. In the 20th century, it was Americanized. Now, in the 21st century, the world is being Asianized.

The “Asian Century” is even bigger than you think. Far greater than just China, the new Asian system taking shape is a multi-civilizational order spanning Saudi Arabia to Japan, Russia to Australia, Turkey to Indonesia—linking five billion people through trade, finance, infrastructure, and diplomatic networks that together represent 40 percent of global GDP. China has taken a lead in building the new Silk Roads across Asia, but it will not lead it alone. Rather, Asia is rapidly returning to the centuries-old patterns of commerce, conflict, and cultural exchange that thrived long before European colonialism and American dominance. Asians will determine their own future—and as they collectively assert their interests around the world, they will determine ours as well.

There is no more important region of the world for us to better understand than Asia – and thus we cannot afford to keep getting Asia so wrong. Asia’s complexity has led to common misdiagnoses: Western thinking on Asia conflates the entire region with China, predicts imminent World War III around every corner, and regularly forecasts debt-driven collapse for the region’s major economies. But in reality, the region is experiencing a confident new wave of growth led by younger societies from India to the Philippines, nationalist leaders have put aside territorial disputes in favor of integration, and today’s infrastructure investments are the platform for the next generation of digital innovation.

If the nineteenth century featured the Europeanization of the world, and the twentieth century its Americanization, then the twenty-first century is the time of Asianization. From investment portfolios and trade wars to Hollywood movies and university admissions, no aspect of life is immune from Asianization. With America’s tech sector dependent on Asian talent and politicians praising Asia’s glittering cities and efficient governments, Asia is permanently in our nation’s consciousness. We know this will be the Asian century. Now we finally have an accurate picture of what it will look like.

在19世纪，世界被欧洲化了。在20世纪，它被美国化了。现在，在21世纪，世界正在被亚洲化。

亚洲世纪 "比你想象的还要大。远远超过中国，正在形成的新的亚洲体系是一个多文明的秩序，从沙特阿拉伯到日本，从俄罗斯到澳大利亚，从土耳其到印度尼西亚，通过贸易、金融、基础设施和外交网络将50亿人联系在一起，这些网络共占全球GDP的40%。中国已经率先在亚洲建立了新的丝绸之路，但它不会独自领导。相反，亚洲正在迅速恢复几个世纪以来的商业、冲突和文化交流模式，这些模式在欧洲殖民主义和美国统治之前早已繁荣起来。亚洲人将决定他们自己的未来--当他们共同维护他们在全世界的利益时，他们也将决定我们的未来。

对我们来说，世界上没有比亚洲更重要的地区了--因此，我们不能再把亚洲搞得那么糟糕。亚洲的复杂性导致了常见的误诊。西方对亚洲的思考将整个地区与中国混为一谈，预言第三次世界大战即将在每个角落爆发，并经常预测该地区的主要经济体会因债务而崩溃。但实际上，从印度到菲律宾，该地区正在经历一场由年轻社会主导的自信的新一轮增长，民族主义领导人已经抛开领土争端，支持一体化，而今天的基础设施投资是下一代数字创新的平台。

如果说十九世纪的特点是世界的欧洲化，二十世纪的美国化，那么二十一世纪就是亚洲化的时代。从投资组合和贸易战到好莱坞电影和大学录取，生活的任何方面都无法幸免于亚洲化。美国的科技行业依赖于亚洲的人才，政治家们赞扬亚洲闪亮的城市和高效的政府，亚洲在我们国家的意识中长期存在。我们知道这将是亚洲的世纪。现在我们终于对它的面貌有了一个准确的描述。