Global Problem

Global problems require global solutions. In spite of this, the solutions to these problems have been proposed, and often imposed, by what we would call the 'West' with little if any attempt to involve the people and countries of Asia, or even to listen to their views. Not only is this unfair, it also won't help to solve any of our problems, because global problems require global solutions, and Asia constitutes a large proportion of global population, land area and economic prowess. There is also a potential missed opportunity: Asia's views and proposed solutions might actually be better. If two heads are better than one, then imagine what would come from billions more.

The problem is this, ladies and gentlemen. Without the cooperation of the entire world, all the world's crises will continue to grow unchecked and unsolved. Asia is part of this world, and thus its interests need to be considered if we are to get anywhere in solving the world's problems. The West has moved past the time when it could force the rest of the world to follow its views. If the West tried to fight Asia now, it would likely lose the battle, as it is no longer the dominating force it once was. And finally, by failing to look at other perspectives, the West may be ignoring solutions to its problems that might actually be better than its own.

An example of a crisis where the Asian perspective is critical is climate change, whose effects are beginning to be felt around the world, through rising temperatures and the increasing severity of natural disasters. However, the international community has been unable to come up with a meaningful agreement that would solve this problem, and while the world bickers, the crisis worsens and deepens.

There are those who would blame China and India for this deadlock, saying that their unrestrained development is causing the sharp rise in carbon emissions, and contributing the most to global warming. However, if we look at per capita emissions, the only truly equitable way to compare countries, it is still the West that emits the most carbon. Thus, when the West asks China and India to put controls on their economy to stop global warming, it has the appearance that the West is asking Asia to restrict itself to a lower level of development than Europe and North America. Not only is this manifestly unfair, this mindset makes a solution impossible, as no Asian country would ever accept an agreement that forces them to deliberately restrict their standards of living to levels below the West, nor would their citizens obey it.

Take the example of the Tata Nano car, the new twenty-five hundred dollar car, just released in India. To many in the West, this car appears to be a setback for the environmentalist movement, as it would dramatically increase carbon emissions in India as millions of new cars take to the streets. But why should Indians not aspire to ownership, just as those in America and Europe do?

While not denying the importance of restraint and conservation, it is likely that the problem of climate change is only likely to be solved through technology through the implementation of cleaner and more efficient forms of energy production. However, instead of sharing said technology around to help solve the problem of global warming, the West's priority is to control the rights and profit from it.

There are other problems that link this same reluctance of the West to share intellectual property. Intellectual Property Rights: copyrights, patents, trademarks may not appear to have much significance in the grand scheme of things but let's look at just one specific issue - drug patents.

Similar to climate change, curing disease requires innovation and technological progress. New drugs are needed to cure diseases, but when the West develops them, it insists at selling them at prices that maximize its profit. In America, the drug manufacturer can patent the actual chemical in the drug, while India's drug patent law only allows the specific manufacturing process to be patented allowing different companies to find different ways to produce the same drug allowing for greater competition, and affordable drugs for