Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World
リー・クアンユー元首相のインタビュー。シンガポールからだと、世界をバランスよく俯瞰できるという好例。第１章は、中国。中国の指導者が、米国に変わり覇権をとる意志はあるかという問いには、もちろんと即答。
第２章では、アメリカをとりあげ、民主主義の弱さにも触れています。
When you have popular democracy, to win votes you have to give more and more. And to beat your opponent in the next election, you have to promise to give more away, So it is a never-ending process of auctions — and the cost, the debt being paid for by the next generation. p.25
インドについては、
On my earlier visits in 1959 and 1962, when Nehru was in charge, I thought India showed promise of becoming a thriving society and a great power. By the late 1970, I thought it would become a big military power… but not an economically thriving one because of its stifling bureaucracy. p.52
India is not a real country. Instead, it is 32 separate nations that happen to be arrayed along the British rail line. p.53
世界政治を見るバランスの良さを、第５章に感じます。
The big divide is no longer between communist and democratic countries, or between West and East. Now it is between Muslim terrorists and the U.S., Israel, and their supporters. A secondary battle is between militant Islam and non-militant modernist Islam. p.68
日本は、ひとつの章になっていません。７章で地政学的な問題を論じる時に、次の１０年の最大の問題のひとつとして取り上げています。
- ユーロゾーンの問題
- 北朝鮮問題
- 日本の停滞
- 中東問題
ASEANについては、
(The ASEAN countries will gain influence as a block over time) but very slowly, because they have not internalized the idea of having a common market, combining resources, and inviting investments into different parts of ASEAN depending on those parts’ comparative advantages. p.98
政府の役割については、ブレてません。
Only an efficient and effective government can provide the framework in which peoples can fulfill their needs. p.112
It is the duty of leaders to instill confidence in the people so that they will stand up to be counted. … Leaders must have the ability to plan and chart the way ahead, and the fortitude to stay the course. p.113
One person , one vote is a most difficult form of government. From time to time, the results can be erratic. p.119
I understood Deng Xiao ping when he said: if 200,000 students have to be shot, shoot them, because the alternative is China in chaos for another 100 years. p.121
こうしたバランスのとれた世界観を、赤道の都市国家が持っているということから、学ぶことが多いと思いました。
【参考】
日本が平和国家であり続ける理由
