Fueled by the expansion of multinational corporations and financial institutions, technological advances, and the increasing porousness of national borders, Globalization is a persistent, multifaceted phenomenon, which has and continues to have, significant impact on economical, political and cultural relations. The book, “The Lexus and The OliveTree” by Thomas Friedman describes globalization as not just a fade or trend, but political and economical system that replaced the cold war. Friedman explains where we areand how we get here, through a series of skillful metaphors, highly relevant anecdotes, and cogent analysis. In this paper I provide a concise description of the principlearguments Friedman makes about globalization, and elaborate on three key points he made. Friedman compares the views expressed during and after the cold war. One of the most important questions of the cold war was what side are you on? During the cold war,what mattered most to each country was which side it was on; this determined the source of the countries funds and support. Today, the question most focused on is howconnected are you? Funds and support come from international markets and investors. How big is your missile? Is another question that countries were interested in. Militarymattered most to countries. Today what matter is the technological advancement and in particular Internet infrastructure. In the cold war, countries had either friends or enemies. Today all countries see each other as competitors. Countries have to make themselves attractive for foreigninvestments where everyone is a player. Another important point that Friedman points out is that during the cold war, you were either a supper power in the first world, middlepower in second world, or weak in the third. In globalization what matters the most is the stability of your market, and if your up to speed with world trade, investment anddevelopment. Friedman adds that, thi...
