Japan Times columnist Jeff Kingston's "Nationalism in Asia" is as fortuitously timed as books come as the president-elect of the Philippines talks casually about assassinating journalists.

It's primarily aimed at what Kingston calls the "Asian five," the nations playing "the key role in how the world's future plays out." That means China, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea, which collectively account for nearly 3 billion people, 40 percent of the world's population, 25 percent of gross domestic product and more than their fair share of tensions between governments and the media.

But blusterous Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines is also doing his worst to prove why Asia is the most likely theater for the next global conflagration. "Nationalism," writes Kingston, head of Asia studies at Temple University's Tokyo campus, "is ever in search of an enemy. As such, it is an abiding concern because it raises the risks of conflict, not just between nations, but also within nations." This last point won't be missed on those fearing Donald Trump's media-bashing rise in a polarized America. It's important to appreciate, though, how cowing journalists into self-censorship will hold Asia's economies back in the long run.