wide panic in 1930s. The substantial issue here is how to divert such a situation, and this symposium is significantly being held at the very moment of finding a way to cope with such a situation.
I'd like to principally and practically examine the significance of how to cope regionally with the crisis. In order to confront the violence of the market within unregulated globalism, some regional effort is required. However, referring to the comment by Dr. Reid, it should be regarded as a part of the internationalization. In other words, the regionalism, only agitated by the emotion of anti-globalism or anti-West, can be no less than the repercussion, and it implies constructive meanings as well as destructive elements, judging from the experiences of Japanese in history. Fumimaro Konoe, one of the Japanese young leaders of that era, who wrote a well-known paper, stating "pacifism with West-oriented should be excluded", was against global universalism advocated by T. Wilson at the time of World War I. He opposed it, arguing that Anglo-Saxons convinced us by whitewashing to justify their own benefits and that it was in the national interests of Western countries which had already obtained enough vested interests. At the same time they even acted as opposed toward Japan and Germany which were to gain power. This argument impressed people domestically. And it is remarkable that Japan inevitably progressed toward the way leading up to Pearl Harbor, and the war against the United States, when he was appointed Prime Minister in 1933, Western order absolutely contains distortion. So does the IMF's. Then, the issue is whether the order with Japan and Germany-oriented could be given the full acknowledgement m the glad tidings to the entire world as Konoe proposed in place of conventional orders. In fact, although Western orders conceal their own interests, the Western countries clearly connect their progress to the necessity of international common good or international order. In human history, especially in modern history, various nations tried to establish a new world order and among all these, the European and American are relatively good at linking the necessity of international public order with their own benefits. Asia including Japan should acquire this sense to tie the indispensability of intentional public welfare with their own benefit and national interests as means of getting recognized in the international arena. And we should enhance our capability to propose a revised order which deeply reflect on the intentional common good.
After World War II, GATT has founded the free trade structure, though rather awkwardly. And when the Cold War ended and the whole world started heading into the 21st century, the recent international community managed to create the WTO, a broader trade system. The on-going crisis proved that the IMF, another form of Bretton-Woods, was also insufficient. I think we should discover a new function of the WTO, surpassing that of the IMF. In regard to the international common good or public benefit, I'd like to comment from another point of view. I absolutely endorse the proposal, attaching importance to civil society, given by Dr. Lee. However, while putting the idea into practice, the nation should still bear the full range of responsibility to cope with the crisis swiftly. The past two world wars miserably showed the need of having a nation accomplish something good or having a nation tamed. When it comes to the use of the market to acquire power, then the market should be tamed, too. If, in the future, we create a civil society obtaining power, it surely needs to be tamed. This idea already needs to be applied to the mass media, too. When one form of vice is revealed, we tend to conclude that only solely targeting its destruction is the way to overcome and to reach the ultimate goal. However, the backside of vice does not always show virtue or salvation. Each element should be tamed, so to speak a double-edged sword. The viewpoint is that the taming process is equal to public benefit I believe. Adopting the idea into each individual is interpreted to be humanity. As Dr. Nandy introduced, the realization of the cohabitation of different religion is based on humanity. In the larger scope, that is the public benefit.
Not a matter of being public or private, each body should be tamed with the awareness of responsibility for the public benefit.
Entering upon a new phase of system creating, epistemic community should be in the center of the system. Prior to the foundation of APEC, PECC, a semi-governmental corporation, based on an international symposium with participation of far-sighted intellectuals, played an active role to bind he Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region used to be scattered and divided into West and East as well as South and North. Now, as a form of APEC, it is possible to foreseen a combined Asia and Pacific as a united civilization in the 21st century, lead by the intellectual community. In that regard, it is significant that the Osaka Intentional House Foundation set up this opportunity for discussion of exercising initiative, and I'm pleased to request that we gather here continuously in order to find proper direction by the
