Yonosuke Hara : University of Tokyo’s Institute of Oriental Culture

Recently, there has been rain during the dry season in Thailand and Laos. Talking to meteorologists, one instinctively feels there is something wrong, that natural conditions in Asia are changing.

Even since the financial crisis of 1997-98, the global financial framework has remained the same.

The framework, which supports the free mobility of shortterm funds, can even be said to have grown stronger.

Basically, under this framework, most of the economic transactions we see today are based on interest rates in the short-term capital market, and for this reason, economic activity is becoming increasingly shortsighted.

But what Asia needs is a longterm vision. To maintain a manufacturing-based industrial society while addressing the balance between the environment and development, a longterm approach must be adopted in managing the necessary funds. But the global economic structure is still not amenable to such long-term commitments. So perhaps a regional financial structure, which would allow for long-term investments and money flows, is necessary. Regionalism in a broad sense may be the key to long-term solutions to environmental issues.

Since the financial crisis, Southeast Asia has seen the emergence of a civic society. The people of the region still enjoy the fruits of the global economy, but have also become politically active. For the first time, many Southeast Asian countries are seeing the emergence of an urban middle class, whose members are becoming a solid political force.

Through protests and petitions, the people of the region have begun to voice their opinions. With this growth of a civic body, however nascent, governments are increasingly being forced to heed the public’s concerns and seriously address environmental issues.

With the advent of active democracy, a host of differing opinions will inevitably surface.

Striking a balance among many views is always a difficult task. Perhaps the best approach might be a kind of regional interdependence in which governments would use foreign pressure to balance out any domestic opposition and create a consensus.

Traditionally, the Asian way of thinking did not place humans and nature in conflict. Nature and humans coexist. Nature and humans are all part of the greater whole. Philosophy must always be the basis of any intelligent activity, be it politics or finance. If one goes back to basics and reaches into this pool of traditional wisdom, then policy solutions will emerge.

At the end of the day, too much growth too quickly is not a good thing. A framework of gradual growth is necessary, even if it calls for a certain amount of restriction on the free market.

After the financial crisis, Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej said, ‘‘If becoming an ‘Asian tiger’ puts us in this crisis, then perhaps there is another way.’’ The king has always advocated a back-to-basics approach in managing natural resources.

These are values strongly inherent in Asian societies, and should be utilized to create a regional framework of environmental management. This not an easy task, but Japan should lead the way.

(IHT/Asahi: April 5,2002)