The cultural policy of each country is invariably bound to its political and economic policies. The change in the driving force behind the global economy today should directly impact on the cultural policies of countries in Asia and Europe. That vacuum, in fact, holds great potential opportunity for those who care about the formulation of policies, including cultural policies. The way forward is for decolonized Asia and other interested countries to form a strategic alliance in which local interests and global benefits can be drawn together. We should emulate the business world which has now given up mergers and take-overs as bad business policies and are now developing the idea of strategic alliances where no party tries to control the other party but instead acknowledges the right of the other party to run its own business in its own way.
Competition is accepted as natural, but co-operation is also recognised as necessary for success.
Thus strategic alliances allow for co-operation in agreed areas outside of the general competition everywhere else. In terms of cultural policy, each country sets up its own network which hooks on to a regional network and in turn to a world wide global network. The areas of co-operation would be defined by the strategic alliance formed between country and country. Global telecommunications have already made national boundaries obsolete, thus facilitating strategic alliances. Networking is the basis of strategic alliances.