Asian political history is characterized by many unresolved issues between the East and West for over two thousand years now. Many nations such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, and Taiwan have had their own struggles with foreign influences in political and economic arenas. These nations continue to confront one another on a variety of issues including religious and ethnic issues, territorial disputes, and resource wars. As they strive to maintain great power status, China and India have been locked in a struggle for dominance in the region.
Today the United States has one of the most powerful military forces in the world. Because of this power the United States has sought to maintain its interests in the region and to keep the balance in world affairs. Asian political leadership is also attempting to increase global goodwill by dealing with the issues that face their countries today. Issues such as poverty, terrorism, and environmental degradation have hindered economic growth and made it difficult to develop political freedom for their citizens.
Asia political leadership is looking to the United States and its diplomacy to help solve these problems. Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, has been visiting the United States at the invitation of President Bush. At the same time India’s foreign minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi has made similar efforts to improve India-US relations. If the current trends continue then the Asian countries will work closely with the United States to promote economic growth, political freedom, human rights, and environmental protection. This will help all Asian countries achieve greater prosperity and stability in the near future.