Europe is mired in a crisis about its future. The United States is led by a president that is shaking up the system in unprecedented ways.  No end is in sight to the violence in the Middle East.

In the midst of all this dysfunction, Asia has been the great hope. Led by a resurgent China, Asia would regain its rightful place in the global economy and in global politics. One out of every 3 people on the globe is either Chinese or Indian. The 21st century was supposed to be the Asian century.

Not so, says Michael Auslin. Even before it has begun, he sees the end of the Asian century. Asia is closer to violent conflict, he tells us, than it has been in decades.  The Chinese economy is certainly decelerating and may be “stalling out.” Governments across Asia are more fragile and authoritarian politics are on the rise.

Michael tells a story of Asia that is very different from the conventional wisdom of the Asian miracle. It is an important corrective to the undiluted optimism about Asia’s future.

Michael Auslin is the author of The End of the Asian Century: War, Stagnation, and the Risks to the World’s Most Dynamic Region. He is a former history professor at Yale University and is now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington. Here's part one of his conversation with Janice Stein.