By Ambassador Syed Hasan Javed
My Book ‘China, West and Islamic World’ published by Paramount Books, Karachi is the story of the Rise and Fall of Civilizations with an eye witness and objective account of the emergence of China as a major global player. I call all of it ‘Romance of the Three Civilizations’ of the Tri-Polar world as Dr. Henry Kissinger calls it. The concept also draws inspiration from the most famous and popular ancient Chinese Novel ‘Romance of Three Kingdom.
What drove me to write the Book is the poetic inspiration from Allama Muhammad Iqbal who had cautioned the arrogant Western Intellectuals, not to look down upon the Eastern Civilizations. Iqbal believed that the Oriental Civilizations have all the potential to stage a comeback. China indeed did it. Others can also do it. Even the Islamic world which lies in a sad and tragic situation due to complex reasons of nation-building failures arising from impotent leadership, self-indulgent elites, lack of Reforms, Colonial heritage, Defunct education system, failure in the management of change, failure to modernize, failure to learn from global practices, chronic external interference etc.
China also confronted its share of weaknesses and many more as the largest underdeveloped country in 1980, with 5 percent of US GDP, before setting on the trajectory of Reforms and Open-door Policy achieving in the process until 2020 what the Western world achieved in 400 years in the fields of Science, Technology, Economy, Education, Society etc. China started from a position of Weakness but achieved it due to the Revival of its ancient moral code of Confucianism and Taoism in combination with contemporary thoughts, particularly Deng Xiaoping’s Theory.
The world is now ripe for ‘Change’ as it has already stood long enough on the Crossroad
It is interesting to note that the emergence of Islamic civilization power from the 7th to 13th Century was also the courtesy of harnessing the ‘Moral code’ of Islam, Sunnah, and Hadith which transformed the poor and resourceless Arab Bedouins into Intellectuals, commanders, leaders and empire builders on half of the world. The Bedouins before Islam had neither any civilization heritage nor wealth or military power. Unlocking the Moral code did the magic. Education or Iqra played the key!
More than half of 65 Countries that are directly part of BRI are the Muslim Majority States, whose Renaissance and Revival will shape the 21st Century
The Western civilization dominated the world for 200 years with US domination for 80 years. It has been hard for all Superpowers in history to accept their decline and irrelevance. But this is as per the Law of Nature and verdict of History. There are many common factors equally for the rise and fall of the Great Powers mentioned in the Book with an account of how the World reached the current stage in the eyes of prominent contemporary Philosophers. In my own view, there have been Mega failures in thought processes with ‘gaps and disconnects’ all around. I leave the conclusions to the readers to draw from the global macro and micro undercurrents.
The world is now ripe for ‘Change’ as it has already stood long enough on the Crossroad. The Belt and Road Initiative launched by China in 2015 of which China Pakistan Economic Corridor is the Flagship project, is the Next Phase of Globalization meant to add US$4 trillion to the regional Economies. No wonder, 129 States have signed on participating in its Plans and Projects.
More than half of 65 Countries that are directly part of BRI are the Muslim Majority States, whose Renaissance and Revival will shape the 21st Century. This is the main reason for the Western world’s discomfort. Finding little else to thwart such a possibility which noted American Scholar Samuel Huntington had predicted four decades ago the possibility of Islamic Confucian connection to challenge and change the Global Order. His worst fears may be coming true. The West has hard-earned it with now the west facing the rest. India has again made a strategic blunder, like in the 20th Century when it supported the Soviet Union which became history.
Like in the 20th Century, Pakistan is again the ‘Eye of the Storm’ and will remain so in the 21st Century. But this time around, it is the tailwind storm. All Pakistan needs is composure and calm with a visionary honest, competent, collective leadership, willing to adopt home-cooked policies to reform and end external interference. Pakistan’s best is yet to come!
About Writer
Ambassador (Retired) Syed Hasan Javed holds a Master’s degree in Economics. He joined the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1979. He belongs to the 6th Common Training Batch. Ambassador Javed served as Pakistan’s Ambassador in Germany, Singapore, and Mauritius. He received training in the USA, France, and Switzerland. He studied Persian, German, French, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese.
He served in the People’s Republic of China in two diplomatic assignments for nearly a decade (1980-87 and 2001-2004). He speaks fluent Chinese and is the author of several books on China including Pakistan’s Best Seller ‘Chinese Made Easy’. His other books include ‘Chinese Soft Power Code’ and Paramount Chinese English Urdu Dictionary. His fourth book ‘Rise of China and the Asian Century’ published by the National University of Science and Technology(NUST) Islamabad, is used as a reference book on China’s Development Experience, in many Universities in the world. His latest book is ‘Nation-building Paradoxes in India and Pakistan’. He is the Winner of several Awards and Citations in China. His Papers are published regularly in China and Pakistan. Since January 2016 he works as Director of, Chinese Studies Centre of Excellence at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (S3H) NUST, Islamabad Pakistan.
Director Chinese Studies Centre, School of Social Sciences and Humanities (S3h), National University of Science and Technology(NUST) Sector H.12. Islamabad.
Email: s.hasanjaved@gmail.com
