Kuala Lampur, May 31 -- When Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim published The Asian Renaissance in 1996, he was writing against the prevailing currents of his time. The Cold War had ended.

The United States stood unrivalled as the world's dominant power. Europe was accelerating its integration project.

Many believed that the future of globalization would be shaped primarily by Western institutions, Western ideas, and Western economic models. Anwar offered a different proposition.

He argued that Asia possessed not only economic potential but also civilizational depth.

The region's future prosperity would not be derived solely from industrialization, trade, and technology.

Rather, it would emerge from the fusion of economic dynamism with int...