"The World is Flat"

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses Thomas L. Friedman's "The World is Flat" that focuses on the evolution of the third era of globalization. The paper explains Friedman's ten forces that show how politics, international relations and technological advance intertwined to change the face of the world almost overnight. Furthermore, the paper relates that Friedman does not banish the effects of globalization, because as he has shown in his books and articles, the process is irreversible and brought to a scale that makes it impossible to control.

From the Paper:

"Thomas L. Friedman's first books on globalization, such as The Lexus and The Olive Tree, written in 1998, focused on the second era of globalization, that according to the author lasted from 1800 to 2000, when "the Internet and e-commerce were just taking off". The more recent "The World is Flat", on the other hand, focuses on the evolution of the third era of Globalization, that started in 2000, put in motion by the power of the individuals to go global, compared to the forces that activated the first two eras, that were the power of the countries to go global and respectively that of the companies (Friedman, 2007, pg. 10). Friedman has a sort of epiphany when an Indian engineer in Bangalore tells him about the "leveling" of the world. The developing of outsourcing of various services enabled by the technological achievements of the last years, starting with the launching of the world wide web made possible the collaboration and competition of companies and individuals on a scale never seen before."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Friedman, T. L.(2007) The World is Flat.. Picador
• Zineldin, M.(1998). Globalisation and economic integration among Arab countries. Retrieved: Oct 12, 2008. Available at: http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/zineldin.html

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