The Pacific Age in World History

In: Journal of world history: official journal of the World History Association, Band 7, Heft 1, S. 41-70

Abstract

The idea of the world's economic, political, and cultural center moving from Europe to the Pacific region is already more than 100 years old. The term Pacific Age was coined in Japan in 1892, and around the turn of the century the idea was discussed in the United States and Australia. During the 1920s it became a catchword among Pacific liberal intellectuals, but the gloom of the 1930s ended the vision. In 1967 the idea reappeared in connection with the emerging Pacific integration process, and rapid economic development in east Asia has kept the optimistic vision alive since then.