Fiji, Dec. 9 -- By Kanni Wignaraja

Waves of protests have exploded around the world with people demonstrating against a range of problems, demanding an end to corruption, pushing for action on climate change, and pressing for personal freedom.

The anger of the demonstrators has caught governments off guard. Asia and the Pacific, the world's most dynamic and diverse region, has reflected those protests.

The events of this year - and how they came to pass - are a distillation of the intertwined challenges that will come to define the twenty-first century: climate crisis, automation, and inequality.

People are increasingly taking to the streets because they feel that economic and political structures are rigged against them, and that the...