Asia should change its West-centric looking glass

For a continent that is the cradle of civilization, it is sad that only meanings invented elsewhere get affixed to words. An example is "globalization", which is seen as a phenomenon of recent origin. The fact is that many parts of Asia were globalized long before the second half of the 20th century. The Mesopotamians, Chinese, Indians and Persians were trading even before the Roman Empire was built. So why is it that we continue to see "globalization" as something new, something introduced to Asia by "outsiders"? Why is Asia still suffering from a "colonial" hangover - of judging everything from outsiders' perspective?

This attitude is deep-rooted not only in commerce, but also education. Take the field of international relations for example. Every country has its own approach to geopolitics and needs to view facts from its own perspective. Yet for decades the three biggest powers in Asia - China, India and Japan - have been sending hundreds of students to the US or European countries to study international relations.

Many of those who return from abroad with multiple degrees subconsciously imbibe the biases and deficiencies of the US-European viewpoint on Asia, and thus get disconnected from their own countries' realities. And quite a few of them become important policymakers in their home countries. The true meaning of "globalization" is to make the home country the hub and let its "spokes" radiate across the globe. But, for much of the Asian policymaking community, the hub is either the US or the European Union (EU), or both.