The World Is Flat

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: DL Neil - Newsletter Account <ip () etelligence info>
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 11:19:53 +0100
To: <dave () farber net>
Subject: The World Is Flat

Dave,
Recommended reading for IP-ers, if you'd like:-

In NYT today: SUNDAY'S BOOK REVIEW
Christoph Niemann
'The World Is Flat,' by Thomas L. Friedman.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/books/review/01ZAKARIA.html?8bu&emc=bu).

Quotes Gates, who is NOT complimentary of the "average [Poughkeepsie, ie
US] person" on a comparative basis, as well as taking a side-swipe at
the Administration and their military posture vis-a-vis
commercial/technical development by postulating that others'
implementation of and use of globalisation is a greater 'threat' than
'terrorism' (by 'military' force).

It also points out something that I haven't seen in IP discussions
dealing with falling Uni admissions and funding questions: that a lot of
"US" 'progress' during the last decade or so has actually been made by
'foreign' students/temp residents and that only as 'host' has the US
been able to appropriate the credit and commercialise the benefits.
Because these guys/the new generation of under-grads, grads, and
researchers are now finding it worthwhile to (relatively quickly) go
home, or indeed are being educated at home in the first place; the pace
of 'US' development will continue to fall - whilst the pace of
development in those respective countries can only rise.

Regards,
=dn


'The World Is Flat': The Wealth of Yet More Nations
By FAREED ZAKARIA
Published: May 1, 2005

OVER the past few years, the United States has been obsessed with the
Middle East. The administration, the news media and the American people
have all been focused almost exclusively on the region, and it has
seemed that dealing with its problems would define the early decades of
the 21st century. ''The war on terror is a struggle that will last for
generations,'' Donald Rumsfeld is reported to have said to his
associates after 9/11.
   
But could it be that we're focused on the wrong problem? The challenge
of Islamic terrorism is real enough, but could it prove to be less
durable than it once appeared? There are some signs to suggest this. The
combined power of most governments of the world is proving to be a match
for any terror group. In addition, several of the governments in the
Middle East are inching toward modernizing and opening up their
societies. This will be a long process but it is already draining some
of the rage that undergirded Islamic extremism.

...

The ultimate challenge for America -- and for Americans -- is whether we
are prepared for this flat world, economic and political. While
hierarchies are being eroded and playing fields leveled as other
countries and people rise in importance and ambition, are we conducting
ourselves in a way that will succeed in this new atmosphere? Or will it
turn out that, having globalized the world, the United States had
forgotten to globalize itself?
> > >


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