When in the summer of 1974 I arrived in Saigon to open the bureau of the Far Eastern Economic Review, I had not imagined what a momentous year lay ahead. I had paused finishing my dissertation on Indochina at the University of Paris in the expectation of resuming it a few months later. But within weeks of my arrival, President Richard Nixon was felled by the Watergate scandal dooming the prospect of prolonging the US involvement in Vietnam. Soon the tempo of war accelerated. Communist Vietnamese offensive against the Saigon regime that began in the spring of 1975 gathered momentum. Amidst the chaotic flight of the Americans by air and thousands of civilians taking to the sea to flee the advancing communist troops, the fall of Saigon came suddenly. On 30 April 1975, I was among a handful of foreign journalists to witness the North Vietnamese tanks crash the gates of the presidential palace and bring the curtain down on the two decades-long Vietnam War.

Deeper significance of those tumultuous days became clear with the dramatic developments that followed throughout the region. From my perch in Hong Kong, I travelled frequently to China and the rest of Asia, and for the next 30 years witnessed war, revolution, genocide, and the rise of modern Asia. I watched the beginning of internecine warfare in the communist camp with China-backed Khmer Rouge attacking Vietnam, Vietnam invading its erstwhile ally Cambodia, and the Chinese army invading Vietnam. As a reporter and later editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, I followed the diplomatic dance of China with Southeast Asian countries talking regularly with the region’s leaders. I combined my reporting, interviews and research to publish Brother Enemy: The War After the War, A History of Indochina Since the Fall of Saigon.

In 1976, China was caught in mass hysteria at the passing of Chairman Mao Zedong. But only three years later on a stroll through the hutongs of Beijing, I watched people surreptitiously discarding their porcelain busts of Mao. With the rise of Deng Xiaoping and his philosophy “to get rich is glorious”, people knew that the Mao era had ended. Of course it had not ended in Cambodia where Mao’s disciples the Khmer Rouge embarked on a genocidal experiment in nation building.

From Asia and from Washington, where I served for seven years as diplomatic correspondent, interviewing President Ronald Reagan after his historic China trip, I followed with

From Asia and from Washington, where I served for seven years as diplomatic correspondent, interviewing President Ronald Reagan after his historic China trip, I followed with fascination the emergence of de facto Sino-American alliance against Moscow. The slow disintegration of that relationship and the beginning and intensification of the two powers’ rivalry had given a new twist to the drama I had followed since the American flag was lowered in the embassy in Saigon some forty years ago.

fascination the emergence of de facto Sino-American alliance against Moscow. The slow disintegration of that relationship and the beginning and intensification of the two powers’ rivalry had given a new twist to the drama I had followed since the American flag was lowered in the embassy in Saigon some forty years ago.

In years of observing Asia and the world, my interest had widened. The world has become increasingly interconnected before my eyes, when China from being a beneficiary of globalisation has emerged as its engine. I had begun to research the origins of globalisation when in 2001 Yale University invited me to join the team setting up the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. The astonishing resources of the Yale library and my extensive world travel helped me to dig deep into the issue and publish in 2007, Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers and Warriors Shaped Globalization. The book offers a historical perspective on globalisation and has since been translated into eight languages.

When I was offered a teaching position at Ashoka, I had no hesitation as to what I wanted to do with that opportunity. I had begun my working life as a lecturer in history at the University of North Bengal, West Bengal, and now I could resume that career at a different level. I was lucky to have been a witness to the recent history of Asia – watching the drama of rise of China and globalisation from the front row. Even better, as a journalist I had the good fortune of knowing many of the historic figures in Asia, spending countless hours talking with officials, experts as well as common people whose lives were changed by the events I witnessed.

Apart from teaching about the historical origins of globalisation and its current discontents, one of the courses I now offer in the international relations department deals with the shifting balance in Asia and the rise of China. In addition to scholarly books and journals, I share my personal observations of some of the historic events I witnessed and personalities I interviewed. It is a privilege to be able to share my experience observing Asia and evolution of globalisation taking place in front of our eyes. It is also a joy to witness the students’ curiosity and discuss questions they raise reviewing the events.

Nayan Chanda is Associate Professor of International Relations