On this occasion, the BBV Foundation is collaborating with the Club de Roma in the presentation of "T h e message f r o m Kuala L u m p u r" to put an end to a debate about the role of Southeast Asia in presenting the new w o r l d order. The result can be summed up in the title of this publication, which the BBV Foundation is privileged to offer to readers specialized in these topics.
TOWARDS A MORE EQUITABLE WORLD ORDER
Furthermore, contrary to the conclusions of the last Earth Summit (which was too limited by partial approaches), sustainable development requires a radical comprehensive approach and mechanisms dedicated to universal authority. Finally, a fairer world order requires the adoption as soon as possible of the principle of world cohesion: that is, the provision of adequate compensation for the least favored countries, within the sphere of a deeply renewed United Nations.
BETWEEN CULTURES
According to that worldview, the entire world that was not Europe had only a passive role in the development of the modern world. If we all continue to perform as we did in the 1980s, East Asia's regional GDP will overtake that of Western Europe by 2005; and the region's combined GDP will surpass that of the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area) bloc by 2022.
INTRODUCTION
A REGIONAL IDENTITY BEGINS TO EMERGE FROM
GREAT DIVERSITY
North America was in the limelight around the time of the US election. While attracting a lot of attention (foreign journalists are denied entry into the country), Myanmar is home to one of the most repressive and barbaric dictatorships in the world.
TOWARDS A BETTER WORLD ORDER
As Table 4 shows, food production per capita has declined in the Philippines, Myanmar and Singapore. The rest had to do so in the mid-1980s, followed by the countries of Indochina.
PROSPERITY ALONGSIDE POVERTY
In contrast, there is still a long way to go in Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar (and undoubtedly Cambodia, although figures are not available), where only a third of the population has access to clean drinking water. The majority of the population still lives in rural areas and usually have the poorest conditions. If you wanted to send your children to school, you would have to sail to an island with a large enough population to support the school - the result is that the children do not go to school.
Finally, if figures on life expectancy and female illiteracy are compared for each country (Tables 9 and 13), a clear correlation emerges: the greater the proportion of illiterate women (and if this is not offset by better living standards represented by higher per capita) GNP, access to clean water, etc.), the higher the levéis of infant mortality. The drug trade is of course another important source of the disease, and Thailand has not escaped the problem. Many of the political (communist) or ethnic groups (Karens, M o n g s, Kachins and Shans) rebelling against the government finance their guerrilla operations from drug trafficking.
OBJECTIVES FOR A BETTER WORLD ORDER
The institution of the nation state and the concept of national sovereignty is also an area of debate. Another factor in the new world order that must be taken into account is demographic trends, taking into account the religious and cultural dimensions involved. The challenge of the 1990s is to manage a reversal of this policy: deterrence must be transformed into cooperation.
Unfortunately, the end of the Cold War does not mean that these conflicts are over. In the bipolar world, developing nations and especially Southeast Asia had to learn to use the weakness of the system to survive. The same applies to the debt problem, and the Latin American solution may not be universally applicable.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Some key areas of science and technology are emerging on which the future economic wealth of nations will be based. The differences in access to information and the ability to make use of science and technology must be too great if we are to achieve a just development of the world. Science and technology play a key role here; scientific and technological progress must be redirected to meet the needs of ' Bebt for science, letters to the editor by R.
The East Asian experience in science and technological development could provide useful experiences for the developing countries. There can be a significant role for international networking, especially in science and technology management. The primary concern is that their people should be able to receive and benefit from science and technology.
THE POPULATION EXPLOSION
Médium fertility decline (IIASA, UN) model
Slow mortality decline (IIASA) 7. Médium low varíant (UN)
Varíant produced by non-linear
Intuitively, this is what you might expect – the more we evolve, the faster the rate of progress becomes in relative terms. This model also suggests how incredibly fast – given 2 million years of history – the demographic transition is taking place: it's taken less than 100 years and we're right in the middle. In most of them, the urban population has approximately doubled in 30 years, and the majority of the population still lives in the countryside.
Other countries have seen a slight decline in the growth rate of their cities. No one knows how many inhabitants there are in the cities of the Philippines, but everyone knows that their number is multiplying. They play a crucial role in the region's economy: although they make up only about 6% of ASEAN's population, their contribution to the economy is much greater.
THE ROLE OF CULTURE AND EDUCATION
Does the implementation of intercultural dialogue require a universally accepted definition of what "culture" is? Or do we need a better paradigm to help us understand the complex text of the world. Currently, we are at an extraordinary m e n in the history of the world, a time of unprecedented movement toward democracy.
Second, the discovery of other values and value systems from the non-Western world (and perhaps even within the Western world). If the formal institutions of the world fail to stop the current disasters, the evil forces of the crypto-state will prevail. A report on the role of the arms trade: As we all know, the trillion dollar arms economy is destroying the world order.
AT THE CROSSROADS OF ENVIRONMENT
Yet concern about environmental issues is not limited to the prosperous industrialized nations of the world. In Australia, for example, there is now a decline in the environmental movement, but thanks to earlier pressures, the country has some of the world's strictest environmental laws. The region has one of the largest and most important areas of tropical forest in the world.
In Indonesia, only 3.2 million of the 4.6 million hectares of mangroves are currently cultivated. Indonesia has 10% of the world's tropical forests – the largest forest area in Asia – and has been at the center of a global debate about the future of tropical forests. In fact, together with Sabah (another Malaysian state on the island of Borneo), Sarawak has two-thirds of the world's tropical deciduous forest.
Ma/ays/a: Vision 2020 ni
More than 600 knn of the South China Sea separate the country's mainland states from the other states in the northern part of the island of Borneo. To ensure an economically just society, in which there is fair and equitable distribution of the nation's wealth and full partnership in economic progress. Malaysia also needs to continue its efforts in education as there is still a large proportion (22%) of illiterate adults (especially women, even though the education system claims to be one of the best in the Third World).
Malaysia has not only taken the lead by producing "A Greening the World Initiative", but has set a higher standard for itself than it asks others to. To achieve the goals it has set for itself, Malaysia will need the agreement and active involvement of all pu l a t i o n s , which is not an easy matter to achieve. However, Vision 2020 is a very ambitious and unifying project to capture the interest of the vast majority of the population, in the cities, towns and villages of the country.
CONCLU5ION5
In each country, an independent body representing all its cultural communities can oversee the media - without introducing censorship, of course. Territorial disputes must be settled by arbitration by a third party recognized by all the communities involved. To move from a vision of a better world order to its reality, leadership is needed, leadership with a long-term vision.
Far-reaching changes and actions should not be based on utopian dreams, but on a realistic assessment of human nature, taking into account its strengths and weaknesses. Leadership will have to be more consensual, with less commentary and compliance, but it will by no means lead to a world order that is less complex. Witnessing daily systematic violations of human rights and humanitarian laws and suffering without having the courage to intervene is in itself a violation of human rights and dignity.
DECLARATION OF KUALA LUMPUR
34;TOWARDS A MORE EQUITABLE WORLD ORDER
Generation of new regulations, review and strengthening of international law in the light of new global conditions. When creating a new society, people must be innovators and not victims, drawing their strength and inspiration from the positive values of different cultures. If education is not carried out in the perspective of the totality of the world situation with a vision of the future, humanity will not be able to respond to the needs of the new global society and will thus betray future generations.
The rich and ancient religious heritage of mankind represents a valuable cultural diversity and pluralism that must be nurtured. However, these factors must not become a source of tension and conflict, but rather lead to a creative interfaith dialogue in which the spiritual dimensions and values of the world's great religions must be emphasized. This book is partly based on the papers and proceedings of the Kuala Lumpur Conference of the Club of Rome in November.
