What It Takes: Southeast Asia: From Periphery to Core of Global Consciousness

ONE OF THE MOST UNDER-NARRATED REGIONS IN THE WORLD DOES NOT HAVE TO BE. THIS BOOK WILL TELL YOU WHY.With 700 million people and a $4 trillion economy, Southeast Asia has what it takes to move from the periphery to global discourse consciousness. This book shows which problems to focus on to become the region's storytellers.About the bookNearly 5 years and over 200 recorded conversations with great narrators and luminaries from the region and the world, combined with almost 3 years spent at a widely-recognized nexus of innovation, academic excellence, and interdisciplinary collaboration, Stanford University, led to a compelling conclusion: Southeast Asia has what it takes to be part of global consciousness—to have the capacity and disposition to think and act on issues of global significance such as energy transition, humanitarian crises, and social inequality. But we just haven't been focusing on the things that matter in the long run, and we don't have enough storytellers to convey this message.This book aims to instill hope and test the boundaries of imagination for future storytellers from within this region while encouraging members of the global community to understand the future, more-interconnected Southeast Asia a little better. Drawing from the author's multidimensional experience across government, private sector, and academia, this work examines the region through interconnected dimensions: history, economics, education, sustainability, and the technological innovations that will shape its forward trajectory.Who this book is for1. Free-thinkers hoping to contribute to something larger than themselves2. Academics and changemakers wanting to bridge their fields with regional understanding3. Diplomats looking to connect their expertise to broader global issues4. Private sector decision makers hoping to turn uncertainty to extraordinary results5. Policymakers hoping to shift perspective and remove blind spotsAnd, most importantly, the future narrators of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Read more