Coming in the midst of a very heated U.S. presidential election campaign, where the U.S. is faced with numerous foreign policy challenges in the Asia-Pacific region and at a critical juncture in Islam’s relationship with the rest of the world, the Asia Society convened over 50 Asian and American leaders at a very opportune time in Bali, Indonesia from April 3-6, 2008.

Delegates discussed the characteristics of Islam in Asian countries with multiethnic or multireligious populations like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. They also suggested ways of tackling radicalism and extremism by alleviating poverty, improving education, and reforming prisons and rehabilitation Centres, to name a few. During the second half of the conference, delegates engaged in a conversation about the evolving U.S. role in Asia. Contemporary affairs like the protests in Myanmar and Tibet, engagement with North Korea, and the impact of the Iraq war on U.S. foreign policy towards Asia were analyzed in light of the coming presidential election.

Asian leaders were invited to give advice to the new U.S. president. Finally, young leaders from the Asia Pacifi c region shared their thoughts on what kinds of leadership and values are needed in the future. (Executive Summary)

Closing Session: New Perspectives on the Asia-Pacific Century

As a way of showcasing diff erent perspectives on the future of the Asia-Pacific century, the Asia Society invited its Asia 21 Young Leaders to share their thoughts with Williamsburg participants. Th e Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative, now in its third year, aims to prepare tomorrow’s leaders for the challenges and responsibilities of global citizenship by bringing together fellows from across the Asia-Pacific to generate creative, shared approaches to leadership and problem solving. The Asia Society hopes to continue bringing these fresh and dynamic voices of emerging leaders into the Williamsburg fold.

Leadership Advice
One of the young leaders described what he thinks leadership means in the coming Asia-Pacifi c century. The participant, an Asian having spent a considerable amount of time being educated in the U.S., talked about how America will be the natural leader in the region. Having fought insurgents and terrorists in Mindanao, the young leader felt that he learned important lessons – ones that the U.S. should also take to heart.

First, servant leadership is by far the most important aspect of leadership. Servant leadership emphasizes the leader’s role as steward of the resources (human, fi nancial and otherwise) provided by the organization. It encourages leaders to serve others while staying focused on achieving results in line with the organization’s values and integrity. In short, he learned that one bad decision can get you and your men killed on the battlefield; the same lesson applies in the real world.

In addition, one needs to pay equal attention to formal and informal leadership. America needs to tap into the network of informal leaders developing in the world, the ones that are slowly rising, like China, Indonesia, India, and Russia. These kinds of leaders need to be recognized and given the respect and importance due them. America also needs to realize that when there is opposition it is not necessary to take direct action.

Finally, America needs to understand that a “soft power” approach is just as valuable as a hard one. This participant who works to fi ght poverty and causes of terrorism through microfi nance learned that the soft approach is usually more appropriate. For every ten people you kill, you will breed a new generation of people who will be fi ghting against you. Th e young leader endorsed an idea brought up at an earlier session: the middle power approach is the most important tactic to use. Th e young leader believed that you can never have double standards. You must always follow the harder right than the easier wrong. America should have integrity and set the example by leading in the right way.

Generational Challenges
The next young leader talked about the generational challenges faced by many young leaders. Mongolia served as a relevant example because it has been undergoing a transition from communism to democracy. Because of this communist past, there continues to be a strong populist drive in the country. Many of the older decision makers who were educated under the communist state have a preference for a socialist solution. However, Mongolia wants to transition to a market economy and needs consensus to move forward. For example, when there is a problem with global food prices, the people want the government to reduce the problems and control prices.

Younger leaders do not think you should try to control the uncontrollable. On a global level, one can see the same things happening. He admitted that the past continues to haunt us but we must move forward.

Tensions versus Balance
The last young leader discussed the lessons learned coming out of the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit, held Oct. 4-6, 2007 in Singapore. Singapore is a unique country that is similarly dealing with the competing attitudes of old and young leaders. For example, many of the older leaders in Singapore seem stuck in the past constantly reminding their citizens that the country is a highly vulnerable state. Given its small size, limited resources, and opportunities to trade, Singapore has of course much to fear. However, the panelist was far more optimistic about his country’s future. The younger generation of citizens feels that there are plenty of ways to be creative and work around these limitations. In fact, this vulnerability should not inspire paranoia, but rather opportunity.

The panelist also talked about how diversity versus unity has shaped his worldview. Many Singaporeans (an ethnic mix of Chinese, Malay, South Asians, Eurasians, and others) are used to pluralism in their lives. Within this complex and multiplicitous mix, there is a common space that can be found. He suggested that we are all different in the United States and Asia Pacifi c region, but we need to fi nd the common things that hold all of humanity together.

Asian Identity
Delegates felt that the younger generation is moving in a new direction, and talked about the idea of this new Asian identity. What is it, and is it inherently a good thing? The concept of Asia has been debated since the 1920’s. It is difficult to construct this idea because Asia is not like Europe. Indeed, Asia is going through a transformation of changing identities from the local to the global, and the rise of a greater Asian self-confi dence. While globalization is supposed to have contributed to this new identity, delegates felt that globalization is only known to a select few. Local communities in Asia need to learn more about globalization, especially the poorest levels. For instance, it was pointed out that so many people in Southeast Asia do not understand what ASEAN is. Participants felt that the one way to improve this sense of ASEAN is through better community building.

Participants discussed how being small in size is sometimes to a country’s advantage and being big can be complicated. Delegates were interested in where Mongolia considers itself especially sandwiched between China and Russia. How will Mongolia work in the long-term and how successful can it resist the two great powers? Mongolia feels like having two large countries as neighbors can be used to its advantage.

In order to create an Asian identity, many hurdles have to be overcome such as number, size, histories, ethnicities, and other factors. One participant believed that China and Japan must come back together and restore relations. Th e implied rivalry between the two countries must be overcome. In addition, China and India have so many things in common that they should not be pulled apart. If they came together, it would contribute to an enhanced Asian identity.

In the end, most participants agreed that Asians should come together on common issues: the future should be ours. Asians should work on common values and aspire to make people’s lives better. Optimism should encourage the region to work together.

Download The Williamsburg Conference 2008, Asia Society

PDF format, 1.6MB, 50Pages.

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, April 3 – 6, 2008

Contents
AGENDA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
FOREWORD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
EXECUTIVE SUMMMARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
SESSION ONE • Th e Role of Islam in Multicultural Asia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Islam in Multicultural Asia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Issues in the Muslim World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Relations with the Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Relations with the United States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Th e Internal Struggle in the Muslim World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
SESSION TWO • Th e Challenge of Islamic Radicalism and Extremism in Asia. . . 19
Understanding Islamism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Proposed Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
SESSION THREE & FOUR • Building Bridges—Breakout Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . 22
Position 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Position 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Position 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Position 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Breakout Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
SESSION FIVE • Th e Evolving U.S. Role in Asia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Myanmar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Other Asian Matters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
SESSION SIX • Th e U.S. Presidential Election and Asia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Th e U.S. Presidential Election 2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
International Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
What’s Next?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
SESSION SEVEN • Asian Leaders’ Advice to the Next U.S. President. . . . . . . . . . 36
Advice from Asia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Feedback from the American Side. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Where does this advice go?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
SESSION EIGHT • Open Space Exercise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Trends in the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Final Th oughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
SESSION NINE • Closing Session: New Perspectives on the Asia-Pacifi c Century. . . 43
Leadership Advice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Generational Challenges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Tension versus Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Asian Identity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
PARTICIPANTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
FUNDERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Visit Asia Society Website

Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, the Asia Society is an international, nonprofi t organization dedicated to strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among the peoples of Asia and the United States.

The Asia Society presents a wide range of public programs, including major arts exhibitions, performances, lectures, international conferences, and K-12 educational initiatives about Asia. Headquartered in New York City, the organization has regional Centres in the U.S. in Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Regional Centres in Asia include Hong Kong, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, Seoul and Shanghai.

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