From the ruins of empires

Indian publisher Pankaj Mishra smiles at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, 12 March 2014. Mishra recieves the 'Book Prize for European Understanding' during a ceremony that also opens the Leipzig Book Fair, which will run until 16 March. - EPA

US PRESIDENT Obama’s visit to Asia raises questions within Asia on where Asia is going and how Asia should engage and embrace the West.

No understanding of globalisation and its impact on Asia can be complete without tracing it to the remarkable period in the 19th century, when the West used the power of the Industrial Revolution and science and technology to carve up the rest of the world into different colonies.