South Asia in the 21st Century Global Order: Problems, Promises and Positioning

Abstract

The world is passing through a crossroad as the multipolarity in the world order is now a distinctive possibility in the 21st Century. In that emergence, the center of global economic gravity is seemingly moving toward the Asia Pacific zone. The USA, the sole superpower in the present order, is increasingly facing challenges from China, Russia and other rising powers like India and Brazil. The success of the EU as an economic and political experiment will determine its role in the future context. This paper tries to assess a place for South Asia as a unit in the 21 century global order and finds a number of persisting problems like poverty, population, corruption, poor quality of education, disruptive political discourse, weak democratic governance, indiscipline, religious and ethnic tensions that impede their future progress. At the same time, the paper sees immense future potentials for South with their growing economies, demographics, diversity, diasporas, IT knowledge, and dynamism. However, the Indo-centric geographic identity of South Asia is both a problem as well as a promise. This paper argues that to reap the benefits of commonality, they need to approach their future collectively and cohesively.