A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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January 31, 2004The Lexus and the Olive TreeA few weeks ago, I read The Lexus and the Olive Tree , by Tom Friedman. When I started it, I thought I would be kinda bored, because I've read Economist, Wired, and Business Week articles by the ton. I have personally been involved with creating and selling a high-tech product that had better foreign than domestic sales. But there was plenty of insight to be found anyway. It might be because I am so much caught up in the globalist trees (less flattering explanations are possible, too), I hadn't seen an important thing he points out, that globalism is the big source of hope and fear of this time. Interestingly, my wife the Profesora, a Latin American literature scholar, found this observation pretty obvious, even though she is distinctly skeptical of globalization's prospects. Or maybe it's because she is. Many scholars in her area see globalization as a much bigger (and usually negative) deal than I did. The idea of globalization as the prime mover of our era would still probably raise skepticism with me if the whole pattern of the War on Terror hadn't strongly suggested a globalization-related explanation. The Middle East is the least globalized region in the world, and we were attacked not for resources or our military threat, but rather because of the competitive economic and cultural issues at the heart of globalization. Though Friedman didn't forecast 9/11 per se, he did explain all the underlying trends involved: Posted by Jon Kay at January 31, 2004 03:21 PM Comments
I would suggest that the Muslim world is undergoing an "alternative globalization" with oil money funding a spread of fundamentalism from the center in Saudi Arabia out to the periphery of the Muslim world, places like Nigeria and Indonesia which traditionally practiced a tolerant Islam that is being challenged by Arabizing fundamentalists. Cheap charter airplane flights also make it easier to perform the Haj, with pilgrims becoming more orthodox upon their return home. Technology is driving globalization, but social structures determine what kind of globalization takes place. Posted by: rickheller at January 31, 2004 04:43 PMThe Middle East has always been globalized. The old trade roads went through there bringing the products and ideas of the whole of Eurasia to their streets. Deep water sailing vessels and navigation cut into that overland trade but with the Suez brought them right back onto the routes. The development of oil restored them. The hermit act is recent and will be brief if bloody. Whatever happens will be bloody since that is the deepest local tradition. Posted by: back40 at January 31, 2004 05:14 PM |
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