I borrowed this from a bunk mate during Basic Military Training having started the practice of bring books into camp. I recall that my buddy read such frigtening things as Six Sigma Success: A Guide to Good Leadership, where I found the whole point of reading in such a place to be a sort of escapism. This book dealt with the old chesnut of the differences between the East and West (never the twain shall meet according to Kipling, riding stride the wave of "Asian values" that had been trumpeted by Singapore. Unsurpringly, Mahbubani defends Asians while warning the West of their arrogance and the fact that the fast rising economies would soon overtake then. Written as a series of interlinked essays, there is the advantage of readability. Mahbubani also doesn't shy away from making a point though on hindsight, I cannot seem to remember anything truly insightful or provocative about the book.