By Invitation | The world after covid-19

Kishore Mahbubani on the dawn of the Asian century

The West’s incompetent response to the pandemic will hasten the power-shift to the east

By KISHORE MAHBUBANI

Editor’s note: The Economist is making some of its most important coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. For our coronavirus tracker and more coverage, see our hub

HISTORY HAS turned a corner. The era of Western domination is ending. The resurgence of Asia in world affairs and the global economy, which was happening before the emergence of covid-19, will be cemented in a new world order after the crisis. The deference to Western societies, which was the norm in the 19th and 20th centuries, will be replaced by a growing respect and admiration for East Asian ones. The pandemic could thus mark the start of the Asian century.

More from By Invitation

Central banks may have misread the impact of QT, says an economist

Tomasz Wieladek thinks it could lead to faster-than-expected rate cuts

Indonesia’s president-elect accuses the West of double standards

Valuing Ukrainian over Gazan lives is morally indefensible, says Prabowo Subianto


A conservative strategist on how Joe Biden can win

Sarah Longwell says “double-haters” will decide the election