Opportunities for Europe in ASEM
In 'Asiaweek' of February 4, 2000, an article appeared in which Asia's position in science and technology was discussed. Without putting too fine a point on it the editor quite bluntly stated what is often whispered in the corridors of power: that Asia has to boost its scientific capabilities or it will risk its future. As some of you may remember, the principal tenet of the article is that Asia lags too far behind the West in science and technology. Asians involved in new scientific developments, if at all, are based in Western or American institutions. It is his contention and it is difficult to deny this that Western academia has long laid far greater stress on original research than have its Asian counterparts. Asia is often said to lack the research tradition and funding. Indeed we may be permitted to say that in certain cases Asia seems to lack the right approach to research, and to education for that matter.
By WIM STOKHOF
Curiosity in new phenomena, a mind open to unexpected concepts are sometimes missing. This has been acknowledged by a high civil servant in Singapore, who recently diagnosed the absence of a creative attitude among the students' as an obstruction to his country's future. The general mistrust of the Social Sciences as demonstrated in certain countries in Asia and their uneasiness with respect to the digital revolution and its consequent democratization of all sorts of knowledge, shows quite significantly to my mind that some parts of Asia do not yet have the broadness of mind necessary to produce and accommodate original and cutting-edge research.The results of Western research are easily available through international journals and the Internet, aided and abetted by much academic va-et-vient between Asia and Europe. Many of the entrepreneurs and academics, who occupy an important position in Asia, have been trained in the West. Western science is accessible to Asia. Some argue that 'the natural origins of knowledge are becoming irrelevant'. So, they say, 'what does it matter if Asia lags behind?'
Asiaweek gives a convincing answer to this: it does matter because the global research agenda is set by the West. Priorities are determined by Western scholars, procedures and standards are set without contributions or participation from scholars in Asia.
To play a role in global scientific strategy, the Asian countries have to develop their own sophisticated level of research planning and implementation. To become more scientifically competent, several things are necessary:
1. Funding,
2. Training,
3. Institutional infrastructure and, since most individual countries in Asia are only in a very limited way equipped with the aforesaid necessities, another element is extremely urgent,
4. An effective national and regional co-ordination of resources (human and otherwise).
Although I believe that Asiaweek's vision is somewhat too bleak, it cannot be denied that the need for sophistication in sciences is becoming more acute by the year in Asian countries, as 'the opportunities and problems we face become more grounded in research.'
It is inconceivable that as an important part of the world Asia should develop very well in an economic respect (and there is no doubt about that, I believe), but that it should fail to reach the necessary level of sophistication in scientific capabilities. I agree with the editor of Asiaweek, that this would eventually endanger Asia's future and therefore the future of its global partners as well.
Tremendous task
My proposal to the European Commission is to use the ASEM process as an instrument, and an extremely apt one at that, to co-operate with Asia in its pursuit of acquiring the necessary scientific sophistication. Undeniably this is a tremendous task, but a strategic input of limited resources could already yield quite effective results, which will be beneficial to both regions: As the past has shown in the Netherlands, long-term scientific co-operation often provides and guarantees sustainable access to all layers of society.
It is well known that a large number of Asians have graduated from American universities. In his recent communication entitled Toward a European Research Area Commissioner Busquin complains that 'European research institutes do not have the same magnetic attraction on researchers from all over the world as American laboratories, companies, and universities have'. The ASEM Vision Group has also pointed out the fact that the Europe-Asia student exchanges schemes should be enhanced. I completely agree, but I wonder if these measures are sufficient to obtain the necessary scientific sophistication in Asia and to link Asian researchers and their governments more directly with Europe.
What I see as the primary opportunity for Europe in ASEM, apart from fellowship programmes, is systematic co-operation in the building and upgrading of scientific institutions in Asia itself. The US, as far as I know, is primarily involved in fellowship schemes for Asians, but it is not engaged in these more long-term structural undertakings.
The building and upgrading of scientific institutions in Asia itself could be done through the large-scale, long-term adoption by European ASEM partners of selected promising key institutions in Asia. Europe has several instruments to make a concerted effort possible in this respect. One of these is the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg. A too often neglected, but potentially highly interesting research organization, the ESF embodies a truly European bundling of scientific capacities. The ESF is actively involved in the setting of European research agendas and it stimulates research programmes that are geared towards the enhancement of European research co-operation. Although the ESF has only very limited funding available, in many respects I believe it to be more successful than many of the programmes implemented by the EU's Framework Programmes.
Another useful instrument, initiated by Asians and Europeans alike, is the Programme for Europe-Asia Research Linkages (PEARL). Jointly chaired by Denmark and Malaysia, this network expects to benefit from ASEM's intellectual potential in the areas of the hard as well as the soft sciences. The network's proposal for intellectual pooling concerns the establishment of long-term joint Asia-Europe research projects, which are considered a most effective tool for tightening links between Asia and Europe on a multilateral basis.
Furthermore, the PEARL network proposes to set up an 'ASEM Research Platform' to initiate, monitor, and implement co-operative activities in research. In a short résumé, (called 'Towards a European Research Area, Contributions to the debate and commentary from the Commission organized according to the action lines indicated in the communication', page 4), Busquin remarks that 'it would be a very positive sign if the representative bodies of different scientific disciplines should wish to establish pan-European representative organizations.' Fortunately, as I indicated before, these pan-European and even pan-regional organizations already exist.
Bundle institutions
Apart from joint efforts to invest in Asian research, it is my opinion that Europe should forge ahead in developing its knowledge about Asian societies and countries and their interregional and international relationships. Asia and Europe are developing new partnerships in many fields of society. In the 21st century the world will see a much more balanced relationship between Asia and Europe than in the preceding century. To build up fruitful and peaceful relations between Asia and Europe will require a thorough knowledge of developments in Asia. Academics in the area of social and human sciences have much to contribute to this knowledge. The study of Asian cultures, economics, and societies is a vast subject area to which European scholarship has made remarkable contributions. Europe, with its manifold traditional connections with Asia, must make an extra effort to continue playing a prominent role in the field of Asian Studies. To achieve this greater co-ordination of research, based on international co-operation between European and Asian researchers, is necessary.
I propose here to bundle yet another set of already existing European institutions that in fact function as Busquin's 'Research Infrastructures' (in: Follow-up to the Communication on a European Research Area) and which focus specifically on Asia and Asian Studies. An example is the International Institute for Asian Studies, which has a European or even wider scope of activities. Then we have the European Associations for Asian Studies, representing thousands of European Asianists, and the recently established 'Conference of the Presidents of the European Associations for Asian Studies'. The Asia Committee of the European Science Foundation with its members from all over Europe does not stint in its endeavours to stimulate research on Asia at a European level.
We propose that these research infrastructures should be combined and developed into a European Union Institute for Asian Studies, based, let's say, in Paris. Such a Centre of Excellence (a concept also promoted by Busquin) should have a multidisciplinary approach. Asia will be studied in a comprehensive way paying specific attention to both the fundamental and applied sciences: not forgetting the humanities and social sciences. At the same time this institute could function as catalyst for the suggested 'ASEM Research Platform' and its long-term joint Asia-Europe research projects on topics of common interest, such as changing labour relations, transnationalism, migration, environmental issues, welfare systems, poverty problems, distribution of energy, religious transformations and so on.
Busquin's rethinking of Europe's science and technology programme could be a good opportunity to consider a less Euro-centric approach than the one demonstrated in the framework programmes so far. In his concept of a European Research Area, there is an understandable emphasis on research and co-ordination of research in a European context. However, research is per definition a non-regional activity. It prospers in an international setting with participation from researchers from different regions, disciplines, and paradigms.
Résumé
In order to enhance effective co-operation between Asia and Europe I propose a set of essential actions to be carried out within the ASEM process:
1. Establish an ASEM Research Platform, where Asian and Europeans set the agenda for shared research on topics of common interest together.
2. Adopt selected potentially higher quality institutes in Asia for upgrading and long-term co-operation.
3. Set up a European Union Institute for the study of contemporary Asia. *
References
- Asia Committee,
European Science Foundation
Asian Studies: An ESF interdisciplinary programme in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, 2000
- Asia-Europe Vision Group
For a Better Tomorrow: Asia-Europe partnership in the 21st century, Report 1999
- Asiaweek
No Laughing Matter, Asia must boost its scientific capabilities or risk its future, February 2000
- Busquin, P.
Towards a European Research Area:
Contributions to the debate and commentary from the commission organised according to the action lines indicated in the communication,
January 18-February 25 2000, http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/
research/area/comments.html, pp 1-8
- Commission of the European Communities
Actions for 'Centres of Excellence with a European Dimension',
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/
research/area/predocs_en.html, pp 1-5
- Commission of the European Communities
Communication from the commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Towards a European Research Area,
Com. 2000, January 6-18 2000', http:/www.europa.eu.int/comm/
research/area.html, pp 1-21
- Commission of the European Communities
Follow-up to the Communication on a European Research Area:
What is a 'Research Infrastructure'?,
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/
research/area/predocs_en.html, pp 1-8
- Programme for Europe-Asia Research Linkages (PEARL)
The Need for Research in ASEM:
A proposal presented by the Programme
of Europe-Asia Linkages,
in: IIAS Newsletter 20 (November 1999), pp 41-45
- Tong Goh Chok
The Asia-Europe Dialogue:
The road to greater understanding,
in: Paul van de Velde (ed.), 1997, pp15-22
- Velde, P van de
Cultural Rapprochement between Asia and Europe,
IIAS Leiden, 1997
- Stokhof, W.A.L.
Editorial,
IIAS Newsletter 20 (november 1999), p 2
Professor Wim Stokhof is the Director of the International Institute for Asian Studies.
He can be reached at e-mail: iias@let.leidenuniv.nl