Pacific Century

The Pacific Century (and the associated term Asia-Pacific Century) is a term that has been used to describe the 21st century through analogy with the term American Century. The implicit assumption underlying the usage of the term is that the 21st century will be dominated, especially economically, by countries in the Asia-Pacific region and major economies on the Pacific, most dominantly China (both the People's Republic and Taiwan) ASEAN countries, Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand and Australia, and to an extent, the United States. This idea can be compared to the historical Eurocentric/Atlantic viewpoint, which has dominated for the past two centuries.

The term Asian Century is a more popularized term, shifting greater emphasis towards Asia, especially on the potential superpowers of Mainland China and India. Cities in those countries, such as Tokyo, Mumbai, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Delhi, and Bangkok are increasingly gaining power as financial hubs, displacing cities in Europe. Some also predict that the balance of world power will shift to China to the extent the PRC becomes a superpower and prefer the term Chinese Century.

In a November 2011 article for Foreign Policy, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used the term America's Pacific Century to succinctly describe the leading US foreign-policy goal of the 21st century. Clinton said: "One of the most important tasks of American statecraft over the next decade will therefore be to lock in a substantially increased investment—diplomatic, economic, strategic, and otherwise—in the Asia-Pacific region."[1] President Barack Obama also toured various countries that month to bolster security alliances and worked on a new trade bloc called the Trans-Pacific Partnership.[2]