THE FOUR ASIAN TIGERS AND GLOBALIZATION:
GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES

Andrew Kahn

DESCRIPTION: This lecture series will compare and contrast the Four Asian Tigers -Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. Three of the Tigers are populated primarily by overseas Chinese immigrants. Mandarin and English serve as their common tongue. Each of the countries is relatively small geographically. Three are islands, and two, Hong Kong and Singapore are
reminiscent in size of ancient city-states. The Tigers boast superior public education systems, vibrant globally-based economies, excellent health care programs, and modern infrastructures. They are located in the Pacific Ocean region of Asia, three of them close to the People’s Republic of China, and one lying below the Southeast Asian peninsula, astride the Straits of Malacca. The
Four Tigers, despite their relatively small geographic size and comparatively small populations, have been major players in the Asian and global marketplaces. In contrast with China, the Tigers are capitalist democracies whose governments are elected by popular vote and each is a major trading partner with both the People’s Republic of China and the United States.

SIX LECTURES:

1. The Dragon and the Tigers: China’s long shadow creates economic security and potential danger for neighboring states
   
   
2. Taiwan: Familiarity breeds contempt: common race & culture, uncommon political & economic systems
   
   
3. South Korea: Where steeling is no crime - ships, cars, machinery and rice
   
   
4. Hong Kong: Rolling in dough - global investments and invaluable real estate fuel skyscraper prices
   
   
5. Singapore: The Athens of Asia - education, science, & democracy within strict adherence to the laws
   
   
6. The Eagle and the Tigers: America reaches a pivotal point where push is coming to shove in the Western Pacific

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Andrew kahn has studied political and social science on the undergraduate level at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and on the graduate level at the Universities of Pittsburgh and Maryland, and at New York’s New School University. He has taught at St. Cloud University in Minnesota and Western Connecticut University. He was a James Madison Fellow in Constitutional Law at the University of Indiana, and a Commonwealth Fellow in American and European History at Swarthmore and Haverford Colleges in Pennsylvania. Mr. Kahn helped found AEGIS, the Association for Education in Global/International Studies, at Stanford University. Over the past several years, Mr. Kahn has taught a variety of global-issue courses and delivered individual lectures for the Lifelong Learning Society at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and Jupiter.