The West and the Rest

I think the author's point of view is interesting, especially toward the end, that it's the West that has to survive to swim. The last few pages, especially, ending with the last graf: "The real danger is that the West will realize too late that — like the defenders of Singapore — it has been preoccupied with old challenges while new ones have been assuming massive proportions."

It strikes me as odd that the West is being accused of looking inward when it should have been looking outward, with an impulse to "shut the doors." The drain of talent from the East to the West is well-known. The "interconnectedness" of the world that the author prophesied near the end has indeed happened, and I think the West has been a major player in that. 

- trey scott