Special Lecture - Between the East and West: A Twenty-first Century Symbiosis by Patrick Smith “The West was dominant for only short period of time in human history. Now is the time to change the flow constructively.” The author of ‘Someone Else’s Century’ and the former chief editor of International Herald Tribune Asia edition, Patrick Smith, spoke at his special lecture entitled ‘Between the East and West: A Twenty-first Century Symbiosis’, “In the last 150 years, western modernization that was symbolized with progress and development flowed into the East. However, we need to find alternatives for the era of de-westernization in Asia.” He argued that Fukushima accident triggered the weakening of trust in Western technologies. He added, “The West can no longer take the role of leader as European and American hegemony has been weakening. We need to break the old belief that the West is dominant.” He demonstrated that Asia’ unique identity can be an alternative lifestyle for the era of de-westernization with the case of Kitakyushu, a city that reformed to become an eco-city, having abandoned the western ways of development. He evaluated that the Western dominance in the past was only a geological and historical remnant of a particular era. In 1820, China and India accounted for over half of the world’s GDP. It was only after the Industrial Revolution that the West took the dominance. Smith had high expectations on the future of Asia. Yet he emphasized that Asian countries must stand in the perspective of symbiosis rather than that of dominance or inferiority. He said, “Asia needs to put their heads together to find a balance and symbiosis between the East and the West. No one in the world can thrive by itself.”