Word: asia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Perhaps it's the memory of slavery, or the legacy of the civil rights movement, or the need to be politically correct, or just plain politeness, but most Americans, particularly whites, are relatively restrained in word and deed about race. Most Asians are uninhibited about it. Asia's vast ethnic diversity means we are forced to confront the very many real differences - cultural, political, economic - that exist among us. Sometimes those differences erupt in violence. At least half of the world's armed conflicts are in Asia, nearly all ethnic-based. But the bigger reason Asians do not focus...
...simply because of his or her skin color. One of my colleagues, an Indian national who has lived in Hong Kong for more than two years, still gets stopped by police for no given reason and told to present his ID. When he complains, the cops merely shrug. In Asia, it is acceptable to be racist, or at least unapologetic about being so. In Asia, race is in your face...
...warns, however, that Obama could prove disappointing to even those Asians who like him. "There's this idea that Obama will be a transformational figure, a leader of the world," says Karim. "But he's a Democrat, and Democrats have traditionally pushed protectionism and human rights, issues uncomfortable for Asia. Obama's key constituency is the U.S.; he will be the Commander in Chief, advancing American interests, not the world...
...world has already gained from the Obama candidacy. In one sense, and one sense alone, his skin color does matter. In Asia (with the exception, perhaps, of India), it is virtually unthinkable that an individual from a minority could rise to become a serious national leader. Whatever we may think of the U.S., of its hardly stellar handling of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, of its lack of oversight, restraint and thrift over the financial meltdown, the fact that a Barack Obama can overcome the disadvantages associated with being black and have a shot at the highest office...
...Masaaki Kanno, chief economist at JPMorgan Securities in Japan, summed up the frantic day in Asia. "Investor sentiment is in panic," Kanno said over the prospect of the spreading financial crisis dragging the global economy into a severe recession. The latest economic indicators are fueling this loss of confidence. For example, Japan's corporate bankruptcies jumped 34% in September, the largest increase since 2000, according to Tokyo Shoko Research...