The beginning of Tectonic shift…

I see a major shift in power and emphasis from West to East…

The rise of China’s economic power during 30 years of reform and opening to the world is just one manifestation of this; the knowledge and service powerhouse that India has come in a globalised world is another.

I’m convinced the current global economic crisis must lead to a fundamental reassessment of how power and influence is expressed through the world, from manufacturing and service oriented Asia through the oil-rich Gulf.

This isn’t because of “decoupling” - that notion so prominent in discussion circles a year or so ago that said things like China’s economic boom could make up for any economic weakness in the U.S. That idea has been well and truly discredited as trade and money flows have caused bank after bank, nation after nation and economy after economy to buckle and bend in the current crisis.

No, it’s precisely because of “coupling” that the world will have to rethink radically its governance and regulatory and influence structures.

World Economic Forum at Davos can be seen as emblematic of this shift. The two world leaders at centre at Davos were not from the United States or from the United Kingdom or from France or Germany or Italy or Japan or Canada. But the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao followed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin….

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