Asia, Europe, North America, and the “Asian Capitalist Miracle”: Changing “Power Cycles” and Evolving Roles in Regional and International Structures

Abstract

Consolidated during the Cold War and reasserted during the 1997-8 crisis, us“primacy” in East Asia is the predominant interpretation associated with the “Making of the East Asian Miracle.” A closer look at the 1950 and 1997 periods yields a different conclusion, supportive of the pluralistic interpretation of “dynamic equilibrium.” At the outset of the Cold War, the us sought to restore the triangular pattern of international trade and finance between North America, Western Europe and Southeast Asia/Japan, necessitating a re-forging of links between Europe and Southeast Asia. What happened to this project? In the recent East Asian economic crisis, the eu-Europeans contributed more to the rescue packages than did the us. This study posits Europe as the third actor in the evolution of a sustainable “capitalist” economy at the international and regional levels. Rejecting a hegemonic economic interpretation for any of the actors, this analysis portrays an emergent commercial and trade linkage among Europe, Asia, and North America that is balanced and never more vital.