Indo-China: End of an Epoch

The Geneva agreement which brought the fighting in Indo-China to an end wrote finis to the French Empire in Asia. France is the last of the European powers to have been driven out of Asia, and with its defeat a whole epoch of Asian history—the struggle for national independence—seems to be coming to an ambiguous close. The implications of this are enormous, but here it may be possible merely to sketch a few suggestive and rather speculative notes.

Except for Malaya, where nationalism is not yet a full-fledged political force, and a few minor enclaves which exist mainly as outposts for European flags but do not decisively influence Asiatic politics, the European powers are through. It is customary to wonder how this will affect...