We began with the observation that the images and relationships of one era often carry over into a quite different era and dominate the thought and actions of intelligent people long after they should. In the previous chapter, I began the process of painting a picture of new realities, but this chapter bears the primary burden of challenging stereotypes and digging beneath prevailing assumptions. I plan to aim a heavy cannon at the stereotypes and to show that many things look very different from Seoul or Bangkok than they do from Washington. But as I do this, there is a risk that I might deliver the wrong message. I learned something of that risk from a previous book, The Rise of China. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, most Westerners thought that Gorbachev was a god who was going to do wonderful things for the Soviet Union. At the same time, particularly after the Tiananmen Square incident on June 4, 1989, most were convinced that China was on the verge of collapse. I was convinced, on the contrary, that, as bad as June 4 was, Deng Xiaoping's strategy would create another Asian miracle and Gorbachev's strategy would destroy the Soviet Union. I made the argument as strongly as I could, absorbed the resulting abuse from reviewers, then enjoyed having been right.