The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman - Essay Example

Odalis Reynoso Patricia Sullivan English 12 14 December 2009 “The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century” by Thomas Friedman narrates about the history of the world twenty years from now. He dwells on the political results of the terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11 which led to the Iraq war. Friedman gives the reader a possible explanation for the world that people are facing. The “new brave world” has begun to grow in unprecedented, rapid pace never witnessed in the human history (Capitol Reader 2005). This paper will present few reasons according to Friedman (2005) that have caused the world to flatten and will try to make an overview of the most intriguing points made by the author. Friedman structured his book as a series of discoveries which reflect his trips around the world, in an attempt to define the globalization movements. Describing his personal experiences and those of his friends, through interviews, Friedman exposes the landmarks that placed us where we stand now (Capitol Reader 2005). Friedman also shows both the positive and negative influences of the flattening in America as well as in the rest of the world. He shares his opinion in what choices people have to make in maintaining balance in the new flat world and how different forces can be utilized to evade the dangers of the uncontrollable “unflattening” of the world. Friedman (2005) comments on the technological and information boom and how this allowed developing Asian economies to become part of the global supply chain. India and China have taken the lead in servicing and manufacturing and generated an explosion of investments. This inevitably made wealthy middle class people and deservedly named them the “Asian Tiger” nations. These examples strikingly show the success of globalization. Friedman calls this new world a “flat” one, because the use of technology made it possible for economies to collaborate more efficiently and created a totally unique playing field. The “flatting” of the globe demands from us to run faster than ten years ago and this globalization made the world smaller and shrunk its borders. The award-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman delivers in understandable level the compound foreign policy and economic issues (Capitol Reader 2005). Friedman explains to the readers how exactly the flatting of the world took place and how different countries, societies and governments perceive it and adapt to the new flat world. The world is flat, because of the occurring globalization processes which powerfully influence every aspect of today’s life. Zakaria (2005) poses that Friedman (2005) stresses the technological forces as the main reason for the flattening of the world. Telecommunication industries in their pursue to realize huge incomes connected places like Bangalore and Bangkok with the advanced industrialized countries with cables. Thus, people become closer to each other despite the distance , which meant dramatic decline in data transmissions. This was one of the starting points in flattening the world. To begin with let me address some of the primary issues that Friedman disputes. He starts the book with explaining that the flattening of the world actually means that the knowledge is outsourced. So people have access to a global knowledge because it is connected in s single network which makes it possible for people to exchange their innovative ideas. This amazing process flattens the world and creates a new era of globalization. In his article Zakaria (2005) agrees with Friedman that the U.S has been obsessed with the Middle East since September 11. However, he comments that may be politicians are focused on the wrong problem. There are real challenges that come from the Islamic world, but they are not as big as it is considered. Most of the governments in the Middle East are opening up their societies to the pending globalization and start to integrate in the flattening world. Zakaria (2005) agrees with Friedman that the Middle East will not disappear from the map of the world, and nation states will continue to be troubled by the conflicts there, but this will not be the trend of the world’s future. Unlikely to believe it, but the countries from the Middle East are struggling to catch up with the age of globalization, free markets and trade and democratic politics. Using the metaphor of the flat world Friedman (2005) refers to the next stage in globalization. In seeking to explain the flattening world Friedman (2005) provides 10 major political events, companies and inventions that led to this process. These are: The Berlin Wall, Netscape, work flow software, open sourcing, outsourcing, offshoring, supply chains, insourcing, in-forming and the steroids. Friedman (2005) observed that the fall of the Berlin Wall liberated not only people, but also ideas. “It tipped the balance of power across the world toward those advocating democratic, consensual, free-market-oriented governance, and away from those advocating authoritarian rule with centrally planned economies (Friedman 49).” The Cold War was a struggle between two competing economic systems – that of capitalism and communism. Behind the Iron Curtain, there was only one system, and people have no other choice, but to obey it. After the Fall, there was no one to hide behind and economies were exposed to democratic, free-market oriented governance. “Henceforth, more and more economies would be governed from the ground up, by the interests, demands, and aspirations of the people, rather than from the top down, by the interests of some narrow ruling clique (Friedman 49).” Friedman (2005) continues that communism system was designed in such a way, so as to make people equally poor, whereas the capitalism makes people unequally rich. Another technological innovation that flattened the world is the dot com boom. In the middle of the 1990s the computer based platform introduced the “killer application called the web browser” (Capitol Reader 2005). The first browser was Netscape and it produced the era of sharing files, greater accessibility and unbound imagination. The Netscape browser not only brought to life the Internet, but also stimulated additional interests and needs in consumers. Thus, the demand for computers soared and with it the software inventions and system support programs. “This demand was satisfied by another catalytic event: the rollout of Windows 95, which shipped the week after Netscape took its stock public. Windows 95 would soon become the operating system used by most people worldwide, and unlike previous versions of Windows, it was equipped with built-in Internet support, so that not just browsers but all PC applications could "know about the Internet" and interact with it (Friedman 57).” The Internet services developed products and created overnight investments that carried the world into a new digital information age. After the consecutive crash of the stock market international companies started to cut their spending. Most naturally, they looked for solutions in continuing their business, but for less money. The outsourcing came into existence. Zakaria (2005) points out that General Electric had found the outsourcing solution a decade earlier, realizing that Indian engineers can cope with most of the technical work, but at a tenth the cost. Zakaria (2005) notices that Friedman (2005) spent a good deal of the book illustrating the technological forces that reached the Asian economies and how Western companies have found the best solution in hiring armies of cheap labor force to meet the growing consumer needs. The great paradox that Friedman discovers is that “America got to be the second buyer of Indias brainpower! If you were a smart, educated Indian, the only way you could fulfill your potential was by leaving the country and, ideally, going to America, where some twenty-five thousand graduates of Indias top engineering schools have settled since 1953, greatly enriching Americas knowledge pool thanks to their education, which was subsidized by Indian taxpayers (Friedman 104).” As an economic force, India together with China contributed to the flat world process. Friedman (2005) quotes a survey which estimated that since the middle of the 1990s thanks to the cheap imports from China $600 billion were saved to the American consumers and helped out numerous U.S. companies to continue their production lines and to save them from bankruptcy. Baum (2009) tries to argue Friedman’s concept of the flattened world and that anybody can do business anywhere. Baum (2009) says that such initiatives were not always welcomed by the U.S chemists, who believe that the manufacturing and the research and development procedures should not be shipped abroad. One positive aspect of the complex globalization processes is the implications they carry with them. Baum (2009) cites a study which shows that China’s research output will overtake that of the U.S. within a decade. This clearly illustrates the heterogeneous character of globalization and the reflections of the endlessly expanding interconnectedness between human activities. Although, Baum (2009) tries to show the negative consequences of globalization, the positive arguments can not be neglected. One of them is the collaborative work of drug companies and nongovernmental organizations in developing adequate medicines and vaccines in treating diseases that still affect the poor countries. “For instance, you are not going to go to Bangalore to find an internist or a divorce lawyer, but your divorce lawyer may one day use a legal aide in Bangalore for basic research or to write up vanilla legal documents, and your internist may use a nighthawk radiologist in Bangalore to read your CAT scan (Friedman 239).” These global and noble actions for improving the health of the poor is a positive sign for pharmaceutical companies which work hard to come up with vaccines for malaria, dengue fever or tuberculosis. Baum (2009) claims that most of the people who have contracted such diseases can not afford reasonable treatment and nonprofit organizations have to be very influential in the poor regions to assure reliable medical care. The catch 22 here is that some pharmaceutical industries try to take advantage of the poor conditions that some regions are exposed to, to arrange medical trials testing some drugs on the poor nations. One of the conflicting points of the flat world is the environmental issue. Friedman (2005) says that the constraint of the natural resources will ultimately result in resources wars, energy most particularly. This emerging conflict represents a major barrier to the flat world concept. Friedman (2005) gives some statistical predictions about the energy shortage stating that by 2012 China will be importing 14 million barrels of oil, whereas the current figure is 7 million barrels. Friedman (2005) agrees that unless a new radical approach is found for the energy conservation and usage, the needs of a flat world will remain pending. Baum (2009) also considers the importance of the climate change is the quintessential global trouble. The greenhouse gas emissions significantly contribute for the worsening of the problem. He proposes that global political negotiations are required to lower the carbon dioxide harmful emissions. Friedman (2005) concludes the book by expressing his viewpoint that the wave that created the flat world can not be stopped. Such uncontrollable forces can not be switched off. Zakaria (2005) gives an example with the countries of the East Block, which under the rule of the Soviet Union tried to preserve their systems, jobs and cultures isolated from the processes happening in the rest of the world. The result was that Soviet Union satellite countries all ended up stagnated and with struggling to survive economies. Friedman (2005) also points to the dramatic erosion of the American technology base and scientific development. In the recent decades America imports foreign specialists to do research jobs. Friedman’s (2005) statistics show that one in five scientists and engineers in the U.S is an immigrant. America’s health care costs are a suffocating burden for the economy and global problem which requires competent government strategy. The solutions that Friedman (2005) offers are connected with intelligent and neoliberal measures combined with market-friendly approach, so that the country preserves its ability to compete in a flat world. Zakaria (2005) summarizes that the flat economic world has been defined by profoundly unflat political world. The United States dominates the economic powers like no other country since the Great Britain’s conquering endeavor in the 16th and 17th century. The U.S. policy was one of open markets, open trade and open global politics. The ultimate goal was to achieve more equal world, both economically and politically. For Friedman (2005) the greatest challenge for America is to prepare the global citizens to accept and to strive for the new flat world. For him stable, economic relations between nation states will be a powerful determinant for the future conflict solutions. Works Cited: Baum, Rudy. Medicine and Climate. 2009. The Editors Blog. Web. 24 Nov. 2009 Capitol Reader. The world is flat. Political book summaries. 2005. Capitol Reader and Shamrock New Media, Inc. Web. 23. Nov.2009 Friedman, Thomas. The World is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century. Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 2005. Print Zakaria, Fareed, The world is flat: the wealth of yet more nations. 2005. New York Times Book Review, Web. 20 Nov. 2009 Read More