Michael Vatikiotis is Asia director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the author of "Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia."
When the history of the 2020s is written, this past year may be regarded as marking the end of what has been loosely called the post-colonial era in Asia. The defining measures of this transition are the definitive shift in economic power from the former colonial powers in the West, toward the former colonies of the East, and an accompanying erosion of western geopolitical and moral influence.
