IIAS: TOWARDS RECIPROCITY OF KNOWLEDGE

By W.A.L. Stokhof

Taking the contributions of my colleagues into consideration, the objectives
of IIAS seem to me to have been very well chosen. Its main objectives are
formulated as follows:
To encourage Asian studies in the humanities and social sciences and to set
up scientific programmes in these fields for both Dutch and foreign
researchers.
To strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation among disciplines involved and to
mediate on behalf of Asian Studies in The Netherlands to promote international
co-operation in a global context. This third objective could be read as to a
certain overrating of our own capacities. However, IIAS will very much try to
become an interchange between groups of Asianists in Europe, Asia, and other
areas.

INTERCHANGE
IIAS prefers to see itself as a catalyst in the field of Asian Studies in
Europe, as an international facility and service centre for colleagues from
Europe and other countries. Needlesstosay, this will take time. Of course, we
are well aware of the fact that the aims of IIAS are not new. In fact, the
establishment of the institute could be viewed as the natural outcome of
existing developments in many countries all over the world.
Internationalization of research need not pose a threat to individual
scholars; conversely, it may help to create research programmes and new jobs
for talented young Asianists.
Nowadays we are confronted with something quite paradoxical: although the
importance of Asian Studies is no longer denied in European political circles
and elsewhere, more and more highly talented young Asianists in Europe are
facing unemployement.This is an extremely serious problem. The foundation of
IIAS is only a very small first step on the road to the solution of this
urgent problem. We Asianists should urge our governments to find ways to make
effective use of the expertise and knowledge generated in their very own
universities and institutions of higher learning. They pay for it, but seldom
or only partly make use of it.

VIBRANT ASIA
The Ministry of Science and Education of The Netherlands sees three reasons
for the continuation and expansion of Asian Studies:
1. Two-thirds of the world population lives in Asia;
2. The economic development of the region;
3. The material on Asia stored in our libraries and archives.
We fully agree with the Ministry of Science and Education on these points and
would like to add that we should not underestimate the present tendencies to
economic and political clustering in Asia and in the Asian Pacific basin.
Apart from the existing conglomeration of economic and political power ( some
with a certain scientific or cultural spin-off), such as ASEAN, Southn Asia's
SAARC, West Asia's ECO, there are also tendencies to set up even stronger more
expansive groupings. For instance, quite recently Mahathir from Malaysia
proposed the establishment of an East Asia economic caucus and Ramos from the
Philippines ventured the concept of a Community of Asian Countries - a new
regional organization as a counterpart to the European Community. In short,
Asia is vibrant and it has tremendous potential. It can easily become the
centre of the world. It will definitely surpass Europe wich seems plagued by
an inherent tendency to bickering and indecision.
It has often been claimed that Europe is characterized by individualism and
liberal thinking and Asia, on the other hand, by hierarchy and collectivism.
The truth in not that simple. We have to help each other to obtain mutual
insight, because without sharing all our knowledge we are at the mercy of
circumstances beyond human control...