Asian Values and Clash of the Cultures essays

Asian Values and Clash of the Cultures essays Asian values and clash of the cultures In the early 1990s, Europe watched enviously as the Asian Tigers grew exponentially. We asked ourselves: what lessons can Europe learn from Asia? After the crash, the question was reversed: what lessons can Asia learn from Europe? (http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/news/patten/speech_00_278.htm, Speech by Chris Patten, Seoul, 20 July 2000) Western newspapers, radio and television stations, research institutes and universities have had much more to say about Asian values lately than Asian themselves. And usually it isnt in positive context. The idea of an "Asian Values" is actually very new. National traditions have been strong and rooted in peoples' perceptions. But the sense of a regional identity and shared heritage is a notion of today. Recently many Asian countries have started to praise Asian Values. There is many reasons for that but the strongest one have to be that they feel threatened by the sudden influence of Western culture and demands for democratisation and liberalisation as a result of their economic expansion. Though we have to remember that different kinds of anti-western attitudes, especially towards Europe has occurred since the end of the colonialism. Some of the Asia Countries leaders criticised the West for refusing to accept the legitimacy of Asian values. They argue that the reason is that West cannot accept that East Asia is becoming a centre of World power. Further more, they believe that psychological revolution is taking place in East Asia as soon as Asians recover from their colonial past and are discovering that they can do things as good as, or even better than the West. Asian Values, such as hard work, loyalty, and an emphasis on society's needs, have often been considered as a main reason for Asias economic growth and success in recent decades. West anyhow has challenged this believe by asking why didn&apo...