Last month the United Nations University held its 3rd Global Seminar on Globalisation in Naha at the Tiruru Women's Centre in the Port district of Naha. Professor Yasu Kim, the Secretary General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) gave the opening address entitled 'Is common civilization possible or desirable?' Here is a summary of his statement.
It was during the late 19th century that the world was largely dominated by Western countries, as smaller kingdoms and traditional empires were defeated and re-formed as colonies within the British, German, Spanish, Belgian, etc Empires. In Central and Eastern Asia Japan and Russia mimicked European countries and the western system seemed to dominate global thinking with no room for dialogue, only subjection. The Industrial Revolution had enabled European countries to expand their market economies and to bring about change in their own cultures and societies. These changes had a spill over effect into their colonies. Many countries had only one way to progress- through market economies and westernisation; this became the yardstick of success. With the demise of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, many people believed that the capitalist ideology had won, that the fall of the Soviet Empire was the final Cultural Revolution that would end history and there would only be one world order. Globalisation has become the new world order and like westernisation is a system that many countries have been forced to adopt, a process largely controlled by countries in the west.
In Asia there is a demand to keep apace with the west, and this is coming at the price of traditional Asian values, as modernization and development have been modelled on the western system. The world is showing signs of cultural fragmentation rather than 'unity as one' as globalisation has implied. This fragmentation, while much more evident in the third world is beginning to shows its symptoms in developed western countries. Recent events indicate that the synthesis of western individualism and materialism is not the way that society can build a new culture. The cultural synthesis of the west, its demands for human rights, individualism, democracy and welfare is reconsidering its impact and influence in the world today. More and more western culture is focused on a value system of individualism and material wealth; materialism is being marketed as a desired identity on a global level. The difference between those who have and those who have not is beginning to undermine the progressive values held in industrialization and western thinking. Many countries in the west are now breaking down and eroding their systems of welfare, democracy and human rights, this is generating much debate about how the west will revitalize itself in the future.

According to Huntington, identity has two halves; one is based and does not alter while the other is created. One is born with an identity; however, as the individual develops they can create their own identity. More and more the creative identity is measured in terms of individualism and materialism. Along with other cultural factors that determine one's identity such as religious affiliations, ethnicity or national groupings, all of these also constitute part of the cultural synthesis within a society. This sort of cultural synthesis also needs to deal with its limitations.
The information revolution of the 21st century will give us access to other cultures and civilizations, which will provide us with different viewpoints.
Civilization in practical and historical terms is the combination or synthesis of a cultural community that may be organized as a family, a town, city or country.
Civilization is a living organism, which deals with survival and prosperity, and in doing so it deals with its natural boundaries, as well as having the potential to look forward beyond its limitations. It is a dynamic organism that changes as it needs to. In order to prosper, civilizations need to change and adopt, these changes may come from the outside or they can come from within. Failure to maintain control of its internal cultural pressures or its external natural environment can lead to the collapse and disintegration of a civilization.
There are some important characteristics and values unique to Asian societies that affect one's cultural identity. Confucianism has left a considerable mark in Asian thinking and perhaps two of the most important tenants of his teaching relevant to this topic are;
Moral education
What it means to be a human person.
The response of Confucius to his turbulent times was to focus on moral education and self cultivation-in this lies the purpose of becoming a human being. He argues that one must become a human being; one is not merely born as one. It is only through learning to participate in human society and through developing relationships can one then become a human being. One must become a human being; it is earned, it is not a right.
The issue of individualism is inherently tied with civilization, justice and society. Where there is no balance between civilization and the natural environment, individuality clashes with the society.
Is there some way of finding a balance between the needs of the many and balancing the fundamental need for individual justice?
There is a limit to natural resources. The task ahead is not to control nature, but to control ourselves, so that our economy can continue in the natural world. The meaning of life in western societies is connected with the attitude of accumulating wealth; this needs to change, so that a greater balance can be found in the needs of people. It places the value of inner satisfaction of the mind above that of mere material gain. What are the prospects of a successful cultural synthesis, what will it draw upon from western civilization and its values, or from another civilization?

Paul Saeki