COLD WAR II Is the Tunnel Vision Leading Towards the Western Irrelevance in the Far East?

Odd Man Out in Asia

Suzanne Nossel, Democracy Arsenal

"This is an interesting but disturbing piece about the consolidation and integration underway in Asia which, for the first time since WWII is creating an alliance that expressly excludes the US.

"The first-ever East Asia Summit convenes Wednesday and will involve 16 nations including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Idonesia, Australia and New Zealand. This is the first regional grouping to include both China and India, who have opted to deliberately leave us out..."

- NOSSEL'S ANALYSIS OF THE ASIAN SUMMIT HERE -

I've said this before, and I'll say it again...

I'm a firm believer that the "end" of the first Cold War between socioeconomic structure, the "us-vs.-them" mentality that cost the world trillions in USD and millions of lives...never really ended.

Did capitalism prevail over Soviet communism? Sure. I'll buy that. But what about the rest of the no-longer-slumbering giants, China and India?

Is the War On Terror really a war that needs to be fought? Or is it a victory that can be guaranteed only with long-term foreign policy adjustment in the West?

Most of the major conflicts in the world today owe at least some of their history to the Cold War. The weapons of choice in these conflicts are almost always old Soviet- or American-made, leftovers from a ideological struggle.

And this isn't just an American problem. Can't even blame it solely on the Bush administration. No, the rest of the so-called civilized world is just as guilty of self-imposed blindness. The U.S. is specifically targeted here; but it's a matter of time before other Western powers have to pay the piper for things like colonialism, failed empire-building, and cultural God complexes.

If Asian nations, led by China and India, begin to form insular blocs - similar to the old Warsaw Pact or the antique NATO , why should Asian nations give a rat's ass what Americans, Britons, Canadians, and Europeans do with their money?

They probably don't give a rat's ass anymore.

Why give a rat's ass about an artificially maintained sphere of dominance? What does the West do anymore? Industrial production is moving to Asia...The West is just one big sucker of a consumer.