For much of the second half of the 20th century, the Cold War between
the Soviet Union and the United States dominated international
politics. With the demise of the Soviet Union, the Cold War came to an
end. Now globalization has become the focus of attention among
governmental policymakers, as well as leaders of the private sector and
leaders of nonprofit organizations.Globalization refers to the
process of removing barriers to trade. As it has developed, it has made
it easier to move money, resources, and information from one place in
the world to another. Not are ever increasing quantities of resources
and information moving from place to place, but they are doing so more
quickly and more efficiently than ever. As a result, businesspeople are
increasingly seeing the entire world as one large market in which to
produce and sell their good and/or services.In this book, New
York Times foreign affairs columnist Tom Friedman describes
globalization and examines its effect upon people worldwide. In doing
so, he highlights how some have welcomed it, while others have bitterly
fought against it. The protestors who have attempted to disrupt recent
annual gatherings of the leaders of the G-7 countries (the world’s most
industrialized) are one indicator of group unwilling to accept
globalization and mobilizing its forces to fight against it. In
order to grasp the meaning of globalization and it potential for
changing the way we live, Friedman found it more helpful to speak with,
for example, hedge fund managers, than with professors of international
relations or foreign policy makers. That stems from the fact that the
former appear to be more capable of seeing the whole, the big picture,
while the latter get bogged down in particulars which prevent them from
taking in the big picture.