focused on glasnost (political openness) over perestroika (economic restructuring). In other words, Gorbachev's failure to realize the power of Western economic system led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The belief that "any society anywhere in the world at any state of social and economic development could be immediately transformed overnight into a liberal democracy" is the second flaw of the Western triumphalist thesis. The author points out that everywhere else apart from the East European countries, which shared common history and culture with Western Europe, democratization failed. He offers the example of the Balkans to argue that "without the right institutions and political culture, long-smoldering ethnic, religious, and nationalistic sentiments in many countries can be whipped up by opportunistic demagogues", leading to failure in transition to democracy. Although democratic elections were held in Croatia and Serbia, instead of liberal democrats, nationalist demagogues were elected. The leaders then appealed to visceral nationalist sentiments to retain their power, which led to war. Unprepared democratization can also lead to internal ethnic conflicts, as illustrated by the ethnic cleansing of Croats in parts of the former Yugoslavia, the attacks on the Chinese minority in Indonesia, and the Tutsi slaughter in Rwanda. Lastly, disregarding cultural differences by believing that the model of Western liberal democratic society is universally applicable to all societies is another flaw in the triumphant post-Cold War thesis. Mahbubani claims that cultures are different and failing to see this shows generosity but also arrogance of the West. The author asserts that there is nothing superior about the Western values, rather, other dormant cultures simply underwent revival of cultural confidence and dynamism when the West was experiencing one of its most triumphant moments. Based on the flaws, Kishore Mahbubani argues that this scenario is least likely to happen in the future. Reasons For Asia's Rise In his book, The New Asian Hemisphere, Kishore Mahbubani explains seven pillars of Western wisdom that have contributed to Asia's march to modernity: Free-market economics Science and technology Meritocracy Pragmatism Culture of peace Rule of law Education Cases of Asia's Modernity Kishore Mahbubani suggests two significant cases of Asia's modernity; China and India. China According to 'The China Modernization Report', China measures its modernization level with two assessment criteria; first stage, "industrialization and urbanization" and second stage, a "knowledge-driven and information-driven" society. The 2007 China Modernization Report predicts that by 2015, China will have reached modernization