[Andrew Sheng] Moving to stable, inclusive order
2026.04.28 05:31
| ANDREW SHENG |
The old order is being destroyed before our eyes. With volatility players making billions from Trump’s “war-on, war-off” announcements on the Iranian war, the rest of us are finally convinced that geopolitical rivalry is all about who controls energy, water, food and technology. Geography and ego determine destiny.
War aside, adults who care about peaceful long-term stability have to address the perennial tough transitions to a more just, inclusive and ecologically sustainable global order. Idealism is being shattered by hard realism that we cannot go down the path of linear trajectory of ruthless consumption faster than the planet can heal.
This transition requires moving beyond sound-bite strategies. While circular economy models are theoretically sound — promising wellbeing while preserving the ecosystems that underpin a functioning economy — they often fail to survive contact with our current systemic gridlock.
In the realist, raw capitalist world, the increasing fragmentation and deterioration in human wellbeing and planetary health testify that theory is far from solving our problems. As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney astutely pointed out for the old order, “Hope is not a plan; Nostalgia not a strategy.” We are already too late to achieve the NetZero goals based on current national commitments. With split geopolitical camps, we have neither enough multilateral money nor political will to deal with the systemic issues as a whole.
Reading the "Boao Forum: Sustainable Development and Annual Report 2026" brought for me a breath of fresh air away from wishful thinking. Instead of wishing that state or businesses would do something about NetZero, the report suggests a distinctive "unity-in-diversity" approach to achieving sustainable development goals. The report recognized that no economy faces the same problems as others. Each economy, locality or culture must be hard-nosed that their different geography, resource-endowment, human talent and governance capacity means that they have to address the common problems in diverse ways. To address Asian challenges such as population aging, climate vulnerability, and widening wealth gaps, the Boao report identified energy transition, digitalization, and cross-border connectivity as “breakthrough points” for change.
You can’t change everything at once. Focus on areas where you can make a difference.
The Asian region is increasingly connected through nature and geography (sea and land routes) as functional infrastructure that enables regional connectivity and cooperation. With just under 5 billion people, innovative solutions can scale through technology innovated, developed and applied locally. In essence, allow diverse competition to evolve an ecologically sustainable and inclusive "Asian Wellbeing” that are networked into regional collective advantages through Asian platforms from technological and financial innovation. As Nike said, just do it.
To achieve real change at the ground level, Asian institutions must adapt and not simply repeat the old Bretton Woods model that is both underfunded and over-bureaucratized. Instead, the challenge for Asian multilateral banks like the Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is to shift operationally on how to help Asian governments and businesses design, implement and operate green and inclusive projects and programs that have impact on rural and urban poverty, regenerate forests, rivers, seas and water sources, produce green energy and promote talent building through learning by doing.
The old order assumed that the best and brightest reside in Washington, London or Brussels. The countries with the best practical experience in hard development are in Asia — China, India, ASEAN countries — with much practical knowledge and experience to share, without the baggage of legacy mindsets. North Asia has all the surplus savings, technology and management experience in global manufacturing, supply chains and world-class infrastructure.
Asia should not preach, but practice green, inclusive growth in her own backyard first. The Global South has woken up to the fact that trust can only be generated through action, not just words. Theory and ideology is being replaced by practical realities that you have to own and implement change that best fit your needs. Strategies and flexible, pragmatic execution toward goals of inclusive and green wellbeing can only be implemented by national and local market institutions, augmented by regional platforms that adjusts to changing conditions. You build sustainability and resilience from the bottom-up, and then network to scale through different types of platforms and institutions.
There is no glamour or fanfare in building long-lasting institutions for the good of the community. We don’t need daily haranguing from political pulpits. We just need better roads, water, food and energy within the limits of our needs, shared justly. That is what Asia can deliver, quietly and without fuss. Only then will we have the moral foundations for global respect.
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Andrew Sheng
Andrew Sheng is a distinguished fellow at the Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong, and chair of the George Town Institute of Open and Advanced Studies, Wawasan Open University. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed.
(Asia News Network)
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