Humanity’s future lies, not in division, but in cooperation and mutual understanding. Area and country studies need to be interdisciplinary, including language, economy, history, geography, culture and lifestyles. What achieves this interdisciplinarity best is a global cooperative approach.

The road ahead is through “Better understanding, better world”, the motto of the CCAS. Just at a time when some are trying to stoke tensions and divisions, a powerful initiative has come from China and the Global Alliance of Foreign Studies Universities to promote unity in area studies and mutual cooperation throughout the world. This demands our strongest support.

Professor Colin Mackerras

Griffith University

Academy of the Humanities of Australia