Review: The World is Flat
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200606100321 |
| Published date | 01 September 2006 |
| Author | Layna Mosley |
| Date | 01 September 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
| International Journal | Summer 2006 | 771 |
| Reviews |
become more willing to run higher risks of military confrontation with
China, but only adds that an increasingly confident China may be willing
to run higher risks to increase its influence over international matters. He
offers no possible argument that China may initiate any violence yet he
mentions that military retaliation may be the primary choice of the US if
it feels that its unipolar role is threatened.
Despite the above limitations, there is no doubt that Goldstein
does an excellent job of giving a solid introduction to China’s grand
strategy. He includes the intricate details of Sino-American relations
and a historical backdrop of China’s foreign policy. The main strength
of the book is filling the gap that exists in the debate about China’s
rise: understanding China’s own strategy for tapping its growing
strength, the origins of that strategy, and the extent to which it has
been and will continue to be conditioned by the actions of others, espe-
cially the United States. Additionally, Goldstein provides an outstand-
ing rationalization in illustrating how China’s strategy has been and
will continue to be conditioned by the actions of others, especially the
United States. This is an excellent work, well written and well docu-
mented.
Syed Serajul Islam/Lakehead University
THE WORLD IS FLAT
A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
Thomas L. Friedman
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. viii, 488pp, $38.50 cloth (ISBN
0-374-29288-4)
We live in the era of globalization 3.0, in which firms and individuals
from China and India compete and collaborate with American and
European businesses. The genesis of globalization 3.0, in 2000, was the con-
fluence of several “flatteners,” especially the shift from vertical to horizontal
collaboration among firms and individuals, and the entry into the global
economy of China, India, and former Soviet bloc nations.
This is the central claim of Thomas L. Friedman’s
The World is Flat
.
Flattening has multiple causes, including the development of the internet
and the rise of outsourcing, offshoring, supply-chaining, and increasingly
digital and mobile technology. In this new era of globalization, Friedman
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