Writing with the combination of acute perceptions and broad sweep of his previous Megatrends bestsellers, Naisbitt describes the dramatic events that are now taking place in Asia as once isolated nation-states expand their individual economies and develop a powerful new synergy that works to their mutual benefit. Although the United States continues to focus on Europe, Naisbitt shows why the collapse of the Soviet Union and the formation of the European Community cannot match in importance the modernization of Asia and the profound impact it will have on American business. Within five years, he writes, Asia's combined gross national product will be double that of Europe and will represent one third of the entire world economy. In the twenty-first century Asia will become both our major competitor and the major consumer of American goods and services.
Among the major trends that herald this remarkable transformation are the shift from the primacy of nation-states to business networks, from export-led economies to consumer-driven economies, and from labor-intensive industries to high technology. Add to these the social changes evolving from increased individualism, rapid urbanization, and the emergence of women, and it becomes clear in which direction Asia is heading. But while it has been quick to adapt Western technologies, Naisbitt explains, Asia has rejected the Western political and social formulations that run counter to its own heritage and traditions. Asia is modernizing in "the Asian way."
All of these megatrends will profoundly influence the way Asia does business with the West - and the way America does business with Asia. There are unprecedented opportunities and, Naisbitt warns, enormous challenges. An astute observer of the Asian scene for three decades, he spells out these pitfalls and opportunities, drawing upon a wide range of informed sources and his own interviews with political leaders, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and businessmen and -women of many nations. With his unmatched gift for describing complex issues and events in lucid terms without distortion or oversimplification, Naisbitt is once again in the vanguard, forecasting a global shift of the world's economic, political, and cultural center of gravity that will have enormous consequences for us all.