Former President of the UN Security Council writes essay promoting an optimistic view on the fusion of civilizations
The co-author of the article, Kishore Mahbubani, speaking at Salzburg Global SeminarKishore Mahbubani, Fellow of
Restoring the Public's Trust: Delivering on Public Policy Goals, has published an essay in
Foreign Affairs.The essay entitled
The Fusion of Civilizations was co-written by Mahbubani and Larry Summers who wrote the article in response to their beliefs that the world that is drowning in pessimism after the recent terrorist attacks and the rise of populist figures around the world.Mahbubani is dean and professor in the Practice of Public Policy of the
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (NUS), Singapore, a position he has held since the School’s founding in 2004. He has also twice been Singapore’s ambassador to the UN and President of the UN Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002. Not only did he participate in Session 523, but he was also a faculty member for
China and the Global Economy in 2004.In the essay Mahbubani and Summers focus on a global optimistic view point. Despite current events that seem to drive civilizations apart, they present the idea that there is actually a fusion of civilizations resulting from an increased commonality between great world civilizations such as aspirations that line up with the Western middle class. This includes good education for children, getting good jobs, and living happy, productive lives as members of stable, peaceful communities. They put forward the idea that the West should see this as a positive example of spreading the key elements of Western worldview into other great civilizations.In the past Mahbubani has
praised Salzburg Global’s collaborations and events and spoke to us about how a session enabled participants from the United States to develop a better understanding of what is achieved elsewhere around the world. The benefits of these better global understandings are expressed within the article as well.The article is available to read for free for a month on the
Foreign Affairs website
here.
