Kishore Mahbubani, professor and dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore, who previously served for 33 years in Singapore's diplomatic service and is recognized as an expert on Asian and world affairs, has released his new book, The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World. This book was published in the US by PublicAffairs Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group in February. 

In the book, Mahbubani assesses current global situation in which significant changes are ongoing and the remarkable turning point in world history that the East and West have reached.

Many scholars are pessimistic about the current global situation, but Mahbubani challenges the Western perspective that tends to interpret changes as signals of global decline.

He holds that the concept of "the great convergence" can well explain the massive changes the world is experiencing and the rapid rising living standard of the vast majority people in the world are enjoying.

Peaceful environment, shrinking poverty numbers and increasing middle class all demonstrate that global developments have produced remarkable positive changes, creating a world both more interconnected and more livable than ever before. They are all reasons to be optimistic.

The rise of Asia will definitely exert an impact on the current global institutions dominated by the West.

However, "the world will not end when the US becomes number two. Nor will it end when two centuries of Western domination of the world order come to a natural end," writes Mahbubani.

The majority of the world's population outside the West is rising to Western living standards, and sharing Western aspirations.

They increasingly want the same things and embrace the same ideals as people in the West. A new global civilization is being created.

The world has changed significantly. However, these changes have outpaced the global governance mechanisms of the post-World War II international system.

Mahbubani links the countries of the world to separate cabins on a same boat. Crews in each cabin claim exclusive responsibility for one cabin, so the boat cannot sail into the ocean rapidly. It's time for the countries to really take command of the boat as a whole and reform global institutions to meet today's demands.

In this process, instead of losing power, Mahbubani believes that the West just has to share the power. The West need not fear these changes, but ought to work to manage them responsibly.

He views Chinese leadership as highly pragmatic and rational, which is likely to maintain current international order. Everything that rises must converge, he concludes, so the West has to take advantage of the current new convergence to solve current problems.