'We must ask why Japan never gave birth to an independent civilization, corresponding to the Japanese environment, but was eventually found vacant and annexed, by the continental,non-maritime Far Eastern civilization.' Arnold Toynbee, 1935. Is Japan going to become a bankrupt state? What will happen to the Chinese economy? And how will America stand up to this unprecedented challenge? Or can the West survive such a gigantic economic earthquake and Tsunami from the East? Tony Kosuge answers all these questions by concentrating on one vital argument. The ancient ideology that once led the successful Eastern civilizations is still running the 'modern' states of East Asia. The entire political system that contributed so much to East Asiatic civilization for thousands of years and is embedded in its religions, societies and culture, today presents a giant obstacle for the modernization of East Asia. Tony Kosuge, a native Japanese scholar and professional in the City of London and Hong Kong reassesses the history of the region's important political turning points from the creation of its earliest indigenous myths right up to the current financial mess to tell a salient and convincing story. He examines the implications for the coming 'clash' between East and West and analyses how this global conflict might eventually be solved.