THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
Postal Address:
Postboks 165 Sentrum,
0102 Oslo,Norway

E-mail: globalorganisation@hotmail.com

11 November 2007

To Newsweek

Dear Editor,

GLOBAL JUSTICE is Best in the world. for Climate.Norway has threatened GLOBAL JUSTICE and its ideologist with death.Threfore,Norway is worst country in the world for climate.

The Human Rights Committee and its representative have worked against pollution of Nature or Global Warming 10 years and 15 years ago,then Norway has used psychiatric patients and mentally invalid pensioners against the ideologist of GLOBAL JUSTICE and the representative of the Human Rights Committee.Now Norway is talking about Global Warming and Climate Change.

The Human Rights Committee and I have worked for GLOBAL JUSTICE,Global Security,Global Laws,Clean World,Human Rights and good future of the World`s People,but I have encountered death threat of Norway.

Norway has threatened GLOBAL JUSTICE and its ideologist with death.Therefore,Norway is Global Criminal and it must face Global Punishment.

Finally I must inform you and Norway that,the decision of GLOBAL JUSTICE regarding death threat of Norway will Globally and UNIVERSALLY be justifiable.

Yours very truly,

Atilla Gøk
The representative for the Human Rights Committee and the ideologist of GLOBAL JUSTICE

hehehehehee...Actually a real cute thought except one thing..wrong continent.......I mean you know who all are asians? Besides the Chinese,Koreans,Japnese ,Indians???....Pakistanis!.Afghanis!...Iraqis!...Iraninans!.....imagine if people form these countries could walk around without travel and trade restrictions???????

I mean we will require another 1000 or so years of killing each other to even settle down and think beyond our sectarian intrests....

Nice UTOPIAN thought...wish it could be true.....

hi i`m soyolmaa. i 17 years old. i`m mongolia. i studying in 11th class. i`m very good student. i want study in university. But i haven`t money. my father`s job 40$, and my mother hasn`t job. my sister is a teacher 90$, i`m 28$. help me please. i want study........................

Very interesting postings in response to a very thought-provoking article. Having studied the EU in Grad School mostly because I saw it as a blueprint for other regions to follow, I am encouraged to see real discussion of a possible Asian Union. Mr. Hoon is clearly very visionary in his thinking and outlook, but unfortunately, the preconditions for Asian integration following the European model are far from being realized. Nevertheless, further economic integration can provide a potential foundation for future political integration, albeit in baby steps. But the impediments to such integration at the current time (as discussed in many of the postings above) will ensure that the AU remains a long-term project in the decades to come.

As for the previous posting by "Anonymous," you had better remain anonymous because clearly you have little to inclination towards discussing these issues in a rational and mature way. I'd say you're almost as bad as the kooky scientologist. As for the EU not having a future, you obviously don't understand the extent to which the member states are legally integrated at almost all levels of government (with the exception of most areas concerning Foreign and Security Policy). They have signed a series of treaties over the past five decades, so a dissolution of the Union would be all but impossible. Finally, your comments about Hitler and the current "socialist dictatorship" that you claim the EU is are obviously too ridiculous to merit any comments in respose.

Well, Adolf Hitler also dreamed of the Germanisches Reich, a.k.a. European Union, but... The European Union is a socialist dictatorship and the most Europeans are against this corrupt and brutal regime. However, the European Union has no future.

Asian Union? Nice joke!

Having read plenty of the wonderful things the Japanese did to other nationals of the world during WW II, Asians in particular, would demand a formal acknowledgement of what the Japanese did everywhere they went in Asia.
The Japanese have simply not ever grappled with their truly "dark side" in WW II. The Rape of Nanking wasn't a fantasy. The use of thousands of "comfort women" wasn't just contained in Korea .. it was everywhere. They use of volatile chemicals against prisoners equates with the Nazi experiments conducted by the SS.
Japan needs to confront that horrific past.
Right now, the average Japanese has little knowledge of what their grandfathers did in WW II.
Without that moral conclusion, I'd say: let's just sell stuff to each other. We don't trust the Japanese. If they can't deal with their own darkness, they're not ready for a completely open union.

"East Asians, at least, are building these increasingly peaceful interactions upon a common heritage of Buddhism and Confucian culture."

Mr. Mohamed

I don't think he is excluding any culture, if you read the sentence carefully! He is talking about East Asians, where Buddhism and Confucian culture is more prominent.

They still haven't forgiven one another.

With due respectto Mr. Shim Jae Hoon, I wish to point out that it is not an Asian Jean Monet or Robert Schuman that will make the difference, nor a thoroughbred Asian Gandhi. What is required is a process of variable-geometry regional cooperation and integration policies coupled with a hard-nosed foreign-policy stance that asserts confidently that the 21st Century is Asian, like it or not. The idea of an Asian Investment Bank/Fund similar to the European Investment Bank/Fund has been proposed several times as well as the notion of Asia-wide macroeconomic convergence to culminate in the relatively short-term into an Asian Monetary Union with a common Asian currency, but the non0Asian members of the Asian Development Bank have balked at both ideas and literally scuppered the very practical project of an Asian Investment Bank. The project of a tri-national gas pipeline involving Iran, Pakistan and India has also stalled with resistance and outright subversion by the USA. More recently, the USA attempted to even threaten Malaysia against a 3 Billion USD proposed investment by Malaysia in Iran's oil industry.
The EU did not have to face such aggressiveness and, I dare say, racist hatred, against their natural desire to build up a shared vision for proserity.
On a related note, I hope that it is not Islamophobia that makes even a very decent and visionary journalist and thinker like Mr Shim Jae Hoon not include Islam and Hinduism, along with Confucianismn and Buddhism as unifying elements for this vision of shared prosperity

AU can become world's biggest block but may emerge with 2 to 3 sub blocks. First mojor block can be China, South asia to central asia, Iran and turkey. Only obstacle is stability in Afghanistan. This block has a big potential and transit to both sides of Europe and rest of oil rich middle east. This is only possible with the permission of Washington,DC.

Let's face it, the EU isn't terribly effective. One can certainly set a very low bar to determine success, but to conclude that the EU is a success is to set a very low bar indeed.

Nations in Asia have way too many differences, cannot realistically be united in any sense. And, if they did, China would steal the show. Do Indians, Japanese and Koreans (not to mention others) want this? Will they allow this? I doubt it.

With China in play, it can't work. With India in play (along with China), then we're talking about pure fiction -- it wouldn't even have a chance.

Perhaps the idea of an AU can be revisited in 50 years. But for now, no need to waste firing synapses on such a hopeless idea.

http://www.startechglobal.com/ (the outsourcing hub for Tsinghua University, China's MIT)

The notion that there could be an economic union in South Asia is a simplistic one. There is too much distrust. Our countries are young and very nationalistic. We have had wars with one another. Large countries in the region have a power complex in their pschye, have a disproportiate amount of influence and walk all over small countries. The rich are corrupt, control the economy, disregard laws and oppress the poor who make the majority. Finally the countries have different political systems, beliefs/ethics and ordinary people have little say in the running of their country. No country is on the same page thus under such circumstances the idea of a fair economic union is a joke.

Some people are making too much of the perceived cultural differences as the obstacle to the formation of AU.

AU does not have to happen at once and at all levels. It can be started with few members and slowly roll out the welcome carpet to others. China and India can and should accelerate trade between the two giant and bordering nation. It is a shame that these two great countries do no have more trade. AU does not have to be the exact copy of EU.

Asia is not homogeneous enough for an EU-style union. Europe--Western Europe, at least--at the end of WW II was wrecked enough to sufficiently submerge nationalism to allow a union to progress. Europe also had a sufficiently homogeneous culture. I see Asia as too diverse, at least now. Plus, no one nation dominated Europe. China and India will dominate Asia, along with Japan; it's only a matter of time. But they have vastly different cultures and histories, unlike the states of Western Europe. Europe's history was dominated, in large part, by the universalism of the Roman Empire and its Greco-Roman heritage. I see India and China as unwilling to give up their potential for the sake of unity. Western Europe had the threat of Soviet hegemony and the encouragement of the US to back its drive to unity. I see nothing in Asia like this to act as a driving force to an EU-style union.

Asians are not, in general, imperialist any more (at least I hope so) since WWII. Therefore, I agree that an AU integration for economic and security is definitely possible in 20 years (they could study the EU experiment and form their own). The main motivation, I believe, is the geography reason for integration - for it to work, EVERYONE IN THE AU AREA MUST ACT LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR AND IN THE INTEREST OF THE WHOLE (ASIAN) REGION AND AS A ROLE MODEL FOR THE PLANET AS WELL.

Europeans had COLLECTIVE fear and an horrible experience of war. War and FEAR of another WWII episode coming from communist Russia is what led Europeans to glue to each other. They were threatened collectively--if emphasized enough.

Asia, for good or bad, does not have the above motivating factors.

Citing cultural differences as an obstacle to the formation of Asian Union is not quite accurate if we are considering India as the only potential member for AU. Koreas, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Malyasia, Indonesia...all are culturally close enough for it not to be prohibiting. All in all, I think in 10-20 years Asian Union is possible if the economic growth keeps up and governments follow better policies as they have in the past ten years, like India.

After all and primarily, it will be an economic union first with positive ripple effect.

The genesis of an AU will be even more difficult than the EU's formation, that's for sure. Like someone else pointed out, the drastically differing positions of economic development and prosperity will be a big issue in forming an economic union.

Politically speaking, issues are a little more polarized in Asia today than Europe was back in the 1950's during the EU's origins. China's backing of North Korea, India's highly tense situation with Pakistan, and Islam's prevalence in much of Indonesia and that area will create problems when trying to unify into a secular political alliance. More stable Asian nations like South Korea and Japan would be wise to keep their distance from these volatile issues, and only participate in joint political action with the West if at all.

Rather than an all-Asia encompassing AU, I could foresee joint agreements and economic alliances between a few nations being more advantageous and stable.

Good luck to asia and all, but either India will have to START managing their currency, or China will have to STOP managing their currency. Not going to happen either way in the next 25 years.

While the dream of an Asian Union is a noble one, I believe that Eastern Asia is much farther from the possibility than Western Eruope in the 1950s. Eastern Asia has a much wider range of governments from one-party communist dictatorships to mature democracies. This is compared to Western Europe where most nations were relatively democratic to one degree or another. The size of the players are much wider as well. Whereas Western Europe was comprised of several large but similarly sized states which were in relative balance economically and militarily, Eastern Asian nations are not as balanced, with countries like China threatening to overwhelm its neighbors by sheer size in any sort of union. Economic development is also of a much greater range in Asia than they were in Europe.

Depending of how large a swath of Asia one invisions in the proposed AU, cultural differences may also prove to be a great barrier. While I can envision a block emerging from traditional Sino influenced areas (eg. China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam), this becomes much more difficult when one starts including radically different cultural spheres such as the nations of the Indian subcontinent or Central Asia. Given how difficult it is for a relatively Western nation like Turkey to be admitted into the European Union because of religious and cultural issues, I can't imagine it would be any different for even more drastically different societies.

Certainly there's merit in discussing the possibility, but I wouldn't hold my breath just yet. Here's to hoping for a more peaceful future for Eastern and Southern Asia.

I think an Asian Union would be possible eventually. Different countries in Asia might join at different times. Certainly, all of Europe wasn't ready at once. The idea that Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, and other former Warsaw Pact nations or former parts of the Soviet Union in the case of the Baltic countries, have now joined the European Union shows that countries we might not imagine being able to join into an economic union now, could several decades from now. Maybe ASEAN can further integrate its member states and something could get started from there. Maybe Japan, Korea, China, India, or some other combination of countries can start something in a decade or two. The EU started with Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Nederland, and Luxembourg in the European Economic Community. It took decades for it to develop into its present form. Any similar development in Asia would be a gradual process. I think such a union would be to Asia's benefit.

It would be a good idea to start the discussion with the understanding that to reach the goal of AU would take 50 years or more.
The way EU has evolved over the last decade, now has a line of countires trying to be part of EU. Countires intially did not think too much about EU are now trying to get in. I was in Greece and I could clearly see the benefits it has from being part of the EU. I would argue to the fact that smaller countires have benefitted more than some of the larger nations in the whole global picture. However downside to that would be smaller countires opnion would get suppressed under the the influence of more dominating countires .
I guess it is matter of few countires having AU agenda on the table and let time take its course. After that it will be a matter of when and not if.

As a Japanese, i think many native Japanese would not even tolerate the connection between other countries. I think it is better for them to remain all alone and trade with trade barriors. Or else, japan and south korea and other advanced countries would suffer in low costs and could further consequences in immigration.

On the whole, Asian societies have greater variation and differences in culture, political ideology, history and level of development than societies in Europe. But regional integration is nonetheless growing. See ASEAN, SAARC, Asian Games etc. Asian countries are content to grow together incrementally for now, not unlike the early stages of European integration. There are no grand declarations to raise expectations, like President Bush's proclaimation for a Free Trade Area of the Americas in Quebec. Across the vast continent, most Asian countries are committed to economic development and peaceful resolution of disputes. For example, many Asian countries are working to connect their railway networks. With the rise of China and India, whose relations are growing less rivalrous, the rest of region will also benefit. Beyond Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and the Gulf States, the rest of Asia is gradually catching up to the West in terms of living standards. Perhaps in fifty years, Turkey, if it is still shut out of the EU, might look east and find a more prosperous and welcoming region to join.

I love India and wish it all the best. But India still has a long way to go. 60 percent of homes have no electricity, and almost the same number have no running water. All the money being spent on foreign aid by US is going in politicians pockets

You must be kidding!!!

As an Indian, I know that India at least is not ready for that. If you take a look at the country that is India, it was formed 60 years ago, by the coming together of many different countries and kingdoms that existed when India got independence from the British. So I would compare a state in India to a country in Europe because of the cultural differences, language, in spite of the fact that they may not be as advanced technically compared to a European country. Even though the system works in democratic India, I think people are still getting used to the differences and being able to co-exist peacefully. This can be seen in many of the territorial tug of wars that happen in the Indian Parliament on a regular basis. For example, if the Minister of Railways (trains) happen to be from one specific state, he/she would always try to give some extra benefits to his/her state and so on. I think at least in India's case, it would need more time to have this transformation be complete, before thinking about having some kind of an Asian Union. People from other Asian countries, please comment!

The US wont' let Asian countries to become a union. The US will invading some Asian countries under the war on terr them. It will destroy the idea of the union at the first inception.

Perhaps we should also think about the partitioning of USA! Right along the Red State, Blue State division. Let the Clinton Hereditary Rule cover the blue ones and the Bush Clan can rule over the red ones.

This way, the blue states will deal with their Shiite and Kurdish friends and the red states will have the Anbar Province in Iraq, which makes the old Jewish dream of Jerusalem to Euphrates come true,...well almost!

The blue states can be called ......(can't think of a name now) and the red ones will be called Neo-constan, the CON being the operative word! And Tony Blair can kiss up to the blue states on odd days and to the reds on even days.

Wha' ddaya say?

I'm afraid you are overlooking some major differences between Western Europe and Asia. One reason that the EU was able to form in the manner it did was that the United States guaranteed their security against the Soviet Union, and the U.S. made sure that the Germans would behave. Without having to be so concerned about defense, Western Europe was able to focus on economic and social matters.

While most Asian nations are not seeking the territory of their neighbors, they do vie for influence. Which is why India is largely overlooking human rights violations by nations such as Myanmar, in the hope of checking Chinese influence. Similarly, China may not be overtly hostile to India, its relationship with Pakistan is quite handy to keep India in check.

Another reason is practical - a country like India has enough headaches in managing its own internal situation, without having to try and form a pan-Asian political or economic union.

Removing trade barriers among nations is the most time-tested tool to raise living standards. Asian nations would be better off pursuing this than trying to form an Asian Union.

"Ready for the Asian Union?" -- At first, I thought you were asking US the question...

After EU, AU is undoubtedly the way to go. What a powerful, influential community of nations it could become!

Yet, I don't quite know why, despite recent Asian initiatives towards an Asian Union, I have the impression it will be more difficult to create AU than it was to give birth to EU. Less proximity between countries, geographically? Less cultural homogeneity than in Europe? More unequal economic development between nations than in Europe? Two economic systems being maintained at the same time? More interference from non-Asian nations in the region's affairs?... But I could well be wrong, and my questions, arising at the other end of the world, may make you smile or even laugh. Anyhow, there is much food for thought in this most interesting vision for the future of Asia.

Back to where I started, I would say that WE, in the West, are the ones who are the least ready for the Asian Union. As you may have concluded already, reading some very negative (mostly American) comments on EU, this after half a century (!), the Americans are likely to view rather unfavourably an AU excluding the US. Mind you, that did not prevent EU from being created and developing into what it is today.

As you point out, however, what Asia needs most is 1. that emerge visionary leaders who see the advantages of AU; 2. that security and peaceful coexistence be first agreed upon among Asian nations themselves; 3. that China, India and Japan agree to settle their major differences and to play a leadership role in the creation of AU; 4. that Asian nations be determined not to let any non-Asian nation interfere in the process.

I sincerely hope to see that Asian Union flourish in a not too distant future.