Friedman's view may be interesting to some.
==================== > Read an excerpt from Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After > September 11 by Thomas Friedman: > Prologue: The Super-Story > I am a big believer in the idea of the super-story, the notion that we all > carry around with us a big lens, a big framework, through which we look at > the world, order events, and decide what is important and what is not. The > events of 9/11 did not happen in a vacuum. They happened in the context of > a new international system - a system that cannot explain everything but > can explain and connect more things in more places on more days than > anything else. That new international system is called globalization. It > came together in the late 1980s and replaced the previous international > system, the cold war system, which had reigned since the end of World War > II. This new system is the lens, the super-story, through which I viewed > the events of 9/11. > I define globalization as the inexorable integration of markets, > transportation systems, and communication systems to a degree never > witnessed before - in a way that is enabling corporations, countries, and > individuals to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper > than ever before, and in a way that is enabling the world to reach into > corporations, countries, and individuals farther, faster, deeper, and > cheaper than ever before. > Several important features of this globalization system differ from those > of the cold war system in ways that are quite relevant for understanding > the events of 9/11. I examined them in detail in my previous book, The > Lexus and the Olive Tree, and want to simply highlight them here. > The cold war system was characterized by one overarching feature - and > that was division. That world was a divided-up, chopped-up place, and > whether you were a country or a company, your threats and opportunities in > the cold war system tended to grow out of who you were divided from. > Appropriately, this cold war system was symbolized by a single word - > wall, the Berlin Wall. > The globalization system is different. It also has one overarching feature > - and that is integration. The world has become an increasingly interwoven > place, and today, whether you are a company or a country, your threats and > opportunities increasingly derive from who you are connected to. This > globalization system is also characterized by a single word - web, the > World Wide Web. So in the broadest sense we have gone from an > international system built around division and walls to a system > increasingly built around integration and webs. In the cold war we reached > for the hotline, which was a symbol that we were all divided but at least > two people were in charge - the leaders of the United States and the > Soviet Union. In the globalization system we reach for the Internet, which > is a symbol that we are all connected and nobody is quite in charge. > Everyone in the world is directly or indirectly affected by this new > system, but not everyone benefits from it, not by a long shot, which is > why the more it becomes diffused, the more it also produces a backlash by > people who feel overwhelmed by it, homogenized by it, or unable to keep > pace with its demands. > The other key difference between the cold way system and the globalization > system is how power is structured within them. The cold war system was > built primarily around nation-states. You acted on the world in that > system through your state. The cold way was a drama of states confronting > states, balancing states, and aligning with states. And, as a system, the > cold war was balanced at the center by two superstates, two superpowers: > the United States and the Soviet Union. > The globalization system, by contrast, is built around three balances, > which overlap and affect one another. The first is the traditional balance > of power between nation-states. In the globalization system, the United > States is now the sole and dominant superpower and all other nations are > subordinate to it to one degree or another. The shifting balance of power > between the United States and other states, or simply between other > states, still very much matters for the stability of this system. And it > can still explain a lot of the news you read on the front page of the > paper, whether it is the news of China balancing Russia, Iran balancing > Iraq, or India confronting Pakistan. The second important power balance in > the globalization system is between nation-states and global markets. > These global markets are made up of millions of investors moving money > around the world with the click of a mouse. I call them the Electronic > Herd, and this herd gathers in key global financial centers - such as Wall > Street, Hong Kong, London, and Frankfurt - which I call the Supermarkets. > The attitudes and actions of the Electronic Herd and the Supermarkets can > have a huge impact on nation-states today, even to the point of triggering > the downfall of governments. Who ousted Suharto in Indonesia in 1998? It > wasn't another state, it was the Supermarkets, by withdrawing their > support for, and confidence in, the Indonesian economy. You also will not > understand the front page of the newspaper today unless you bring the > Supermarkets into your analysis. Because the United States can destroy you > by dropping bombs, but the Supermarkets can destroy you by downgrading > your bonds. In other words, the United States is the dominant player in > maintaining the globalization game board, but it is hardly alone in > influencing the moves on that game board. > The third balance that you have to pay attention to - the one that is > really the newest of all and the most relevant to the events of 9/11 - is > the balance between individuals and nation-states. Because globalization > has brought down many of the walls that limited the movement and reach of > people, and because it has simultaneously wired the world into networks, > it gives more power to individuals to influence both markets and > nation-states than at any other time in history. Whether by enabling > people to use the Internet to communicate instantly at almost no cost over > vast distances, or by enabling them to use the Web to transfer money or > obtain weapons designs that normally would have been controlled by states, > or by enabling them to go into a hardware store now and buy a > five-hundred-dollar global positioning device, connected to a satellite, > that can direct a hijacked airplane - globalization can be an incredible > force-multiplier for individuals. Individuals can increasingly act on the > world stage directly, unmediated by a state. > So you have today not only a superpower, not only Supermarkets, but also > what I call "super-empowered individuals." Some of these super-empowered > individuals are quite angry, some of them quite wonderful - but all of > them are now able to act much more directly and much more powerfully on > the world stage. > Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States in the late 1990s. After > he organized the bombing of two American embassies in Africa, the U.S. Air > Force retaliated with a cruise missile attack on his bases in Afghanistan > as though he were another nation-state. Think about that: on one day in > 1998, the United States fired 75 cruise missiles at bin Laden. The United > States fired 75 cruise missiles, at $1 million apiece, at a person! That > was the first battle in history between a superpower and a super-empowered > angry man. September 11 was just the second such battle. > Jody Williams won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for helping to build an > international coalition to bring about a treaty outlawing land mines. > Although nearly 120 governments endorsed the treaty, it was opposed by > Russia, China, and the United States. When Jody Williams was asked, "How > did you do that? How did you organize one thousand different citizens' > groups and non governmental organizations on five continents to forge a > treaty that was opposed by the major powers?" she had a very brief answer: > "E-mail." Jody Williams used e-mail and then networked world to > super-empower herself. > Nation-states, and the American superpower in particular, are still hugely > important today, but so too now are Supermarkets and super-empowered > individuals. You will never understand the globalization system, or the > front page of the morning paper - or 9/11 - unless you see each one as a > complex interaction between all three of these actors: states bumping up > against states, states bumping up against Supermarkets, and Supermarkets > and states bumping up against super-empowered individuals - many of whom, > unfortunately, are super-empowered angry men. <<...OLE_Obj...>> > Excerpted from Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After > September 11 by Thomas Friedman. Used with permission, Farrar Straus & > Giroux, Copyright � 2002 Thomas Friedman. >
