As 2008 draws near, very few educated people can still be unaware of the rising economic and strategic power of Asia.

Consider 2007. The year began with China firing a ballistic missile to destroy a weather satellite in orbit, a successful test of space warfare that sent shockwaves through the US. In November, PetroChina overtook Exxon Mobil as the world’s top company by market value. This time the tremors were felt on Wall Street.