Reviewing The World is Flat-A brief history of the twenty-first century by Thomas Friedman

            Starting with an attention-grabbing first line, The World is Flat, written by Thomas L. Friedman, is a very important novel that should be read by everyone. With an interesting title like The World is Flat, many are interested and curious as to how the world is flat. Globalization, the increasing interconnectedness of different parts of the world through common processes of economic, cultural, environmental and political change; is a constant theme throughout this book (Knox and Marston). As globalization is a major topic in Human Geography, this book is perfectly apt for this course. With countless case studies and statistics, one cannot help but be in awe of the astonishing ways our world has changed and ‘flattened’ in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

            The book’s setting begins in Bangalore, India. Thomas Friedman realized that numerous advances due to technology and globalization have made the world ‘flat’. The term ‘flat world’ refers to how the “global competitive playing field has been leveled (Friedman 8)” and how “All knowledge is now connected (Friedman 9)”. Globalization is a fundamental concept of our AP Human Geography class. According to Friedman, there are three eras of globalization. Globalization 1.0 deals with countries globalizing. Globalization 2.0 refers to the companies globalizing. Finally, the third era of globalization, Globalization 3.0, involved the newfound power of individuals to compete and collaborate globally (Friedman 10). 

            There are ten vital forces that have flattened the world we know and love today. The merging of major political events, innovations and companies were key effects of the flat world (Friedman 50). The first flattener started at the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 11, 1989. This symbolized the fall of Communism and a New Age of Creativity (Friedman 51). The collapse of the Berlin Wall brought ways to free market, woman’s rights, countries adopting similar standards economically and supranational organizations like the European Union (Friedman 53). The second flattener was the World Wide Web and Netscape. The World Wide Web is a cyberspace of information, where you can find anything (Friedman 60-62). Netscape brought the Internet alive and accessible to everything (Friedman 63). They also made the browser, which was probably the “most important innovation in modern history (Friedman 62)”. Eventually, Netscape’s power dwindled as it could not compete with Microsoft’s success (Friedman 68). Work Flow Software is the third flattener. The main breakthrough of the work flow software was through the PC and email which created a global platform for people and companies (Friedman 82). The innovation of uploading is the fourth flattener. If one stops to think of how much information gets uploaded on a daily basis, the power of this monumental innovation can be realized. The fifth flattener of our world is outsourcing. Outsourcing, like everything else, has positive and negative aspects. Outsourcing has helped USA manufacture and sell many products at a fraction of the cost. However, outsourcing is usually frowned upon because it takes away American jobs. India is one of the main countries jobs are outsourced to. Offshoring, the sixth flattener, occurs when the company moves the entire factory to another country where it produces the same product at a cheaper rate. While the entire company is moved to another country due to offshoring, outsourcing moves a partial amount of the company out of USA. (Friedman 137). Supply chaining is a way to collaborate with suppliers, sellers and consumers to create value. This seventh flatter has majorly impacted the world because it helped set common standards between countries (Friedman 152). Insourcing, the eighth flattener, is a new way of collaborating. It made the ‘flat world flatter’ (Friedman 169). The ninth flattener is informing which deals with the positive and negative sides of search engines and how unlimited access could be detrimental. Finally, the tenth flattener discussed the new technology and differentiates digital, virtual and mobile ages. These technological innovations like the instant messaging, video conferencing and wireless technology have changed communication forever.

            These ten flatters united to form the first section of the ‘Triple Convergence’. The second section of the triple convergence was the introduction of a new technological platform. The third convergence was the developing countries like China and India opening their borders and becoming a part of the globalizing world. This triple convergence sped up the process of globalization immensely. All over the world, businesses and individuals changed their ways to reap the most benefits of this new global world (Friedman 204-213).

            Friedman discussed in chapter four whether globalization might be exploitation. One main case study he conducted was between India and Indiana. Tata American International, an Indian consulting firm, was upgrading the unemployment department in Indiana.  This outsourced the jobs from Indiana to India. The question that arises with this case study is: are outsourced workers in India being exploited by being paid less than workers in America, or are they given an opportunity to work in a globally-renowned company they probably could have never had otherwise (Friedman 240)? This chapter also compared the current IT Revolution to the Industrial Revolution, and made the connection to what Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels predicted in the Communist Manifesto (Friedman 235).

            In the fifth chapter of this book, Friedman questioned if there is still free trade in the flat world. If there is, would it benefit America as a whole when the world becomes very flat? The conclusion was that even as the world gets flat, America will still benefit more by the general principles of free trade, than trying to build walls and stop free trade and outsourcing (Friedman 263).

In a flat world, there is no such thing as an American job (Friedman 278). One’s job can very likely be outsourced to countries like India or China if it can be done more cost efficiently. In a flat world, one wants to be an untouchable. Individuals who are untouchable are extremely “special or specialized” (Friedman 280). The simple logic being that one’s job cannot be outsourced if only you can ‘make the magic happen’. *Change*. Individuals, who are localized and require doing their job in a specific local area, are untouchables also. Knowing if one’s job is an “untouchable” can give great perspective on their future. Especially in the recession that we are in right now, no one wants to lose their job. By making oneself an untouchable, there would be more job security.

            For America to be in the same playing field as countries like China and India, the educational system must be transformed. Friedman used the expression CQ+PQ>IQ, which states that the curiosity quotient plus the passion quotient of a topic will be greater than one’s intelligence quotient (Friedman 303). If one is curious and passionate about a topic, it is very likely that they would put forth the work and effort to excel at the job associated with that topic. To increase the curiosity and passion quotients in students, more education is not necessarily needed in America. How you educate the students is more valuable that how much you educate. Also, many students, including myself sometimes, should “learn how to learn” (Friedman 304). Knowing how one learns best will help throughout their life, since we are constantly learning every day.

            In the eighth chapter, Friedman accounted how America is falling behind in science and innovations. The best metaphor that Friedman used to show America is falling behind was the U.S. Olympic basketball team 2004 when they lost to Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Argentina (Friedman 324). The lack of scientists and engineers, the young generation having a disinterest in math and science, lack of ambition because of television and video games, lack of infrastructure since America focuses on war and lack of funding for research are reasons why America is falling behind (Friedman 329-359).

            In the Cold War era, it was obvious that America had to step up to the plate. Wanting democracy to conquer over Communism, America needed to prove they were better than the Soviet Union. The Space race was one of the main proponents that came from this rivalry. FDR influenced many people to become scientists, engineers and mathematicians so America can once again rise to the top. Friedman stressed that people should be willing to change their ways and adapt to the new world (Friedman 372).

            In 2003, China replaced Mexico as America’s second largest exporter. This created a big problem when two developing countries, Mexico and China, competed with one another (Friedman 394). Even with the NAFTA agreements lowering costs in Mexico, China has an even lower cost in manufacturing. According to Friedman, developing countries must create the right environment for the companies and individuals to survive in a flat word. Developing countries should also know where in the hierarchy the country would fall under if they choose change in the flat world (Friedman 396). Changes in governance, infrastructure and education transformed Ireland from the “sick man of Europe” to the country with the second highest per capita GDP in the European Union (Friedman 406).

            How companies cope with the flattening of the world is crucial to their survival in the flat world.  Paul Romer said, “Everyone wants economic growth, but no one wants change (Friedman 425).” One important note companies should keep in mind is “whatever can be done will be done-and much faster than you think. Will it be done by you or to you (Friedman 426)?”

Jill and Greg Greer, creators of a multimedia company called Greer &Associates, stated their main competition were freelancers. Because of the freelancers, companies like Greer & Associates have to compete with both large and small companies. Greer & Associates also have to deal with technology, instead of simplifying the work, actually making the work more difficult because of the added operations (Friedman 427). Important rules Friedman states are that the best companies collaborate; the more business would be done through collaborations and use outsourcing to grow the company, not to shrink (Friedman 439, 447).

            So far, in the first eleven chapters, Thomas Friedman discussed about how the world becoming flat. In the twelfth chapter, Friedman stated that the world is not completely flat yet. Some factors that are preventing globalization in all parts of the world include the AIDS epidemic, and people who are in the flattened areas, but have no way of benefiting from it.  Many people in Africa struggle with poverty and epidemics like HIV-AIDS, malaria, TB, and polio often do not even have clean water readily available at all times. Similarly, while globally, the middle and upper class of India are very affluent, there are innumerable amount of grief-stricken people in poverty that will never see past the gloom and despair in their lives. Just like the Africans in poverty, the low class Indians will never be able to be part of the global world; their more dire need is to live (Friedman 462-463).

            As globalization occurs, are contacting faster than ever before which has led to greater frustration. Also, the consumption of the natural resources has increased exponentially. As the resources deplete, countries have to compete for the remaining resources (Friedman 495). Globalization has led to not only Westernization, but also Americanization to countries all over the world (Friedman 505). For example, about two years ago during the summer, I visited my family in India. When I went shopping to the large, mall-like stores, I would always hear a Taylor Swift or Hannah Montana song playing. Everyone around me was humming along to the song, which amazed me Very soon, just like America has a Chinatown, countries around the world will have ‘America-towns’. In the future, this could very likely be the cause of original culture to slowly diminish.

            Chapter fourteen started with a case study about Friedman’s computer and the supply chain with it. Friedman researched about everything that was put together to make his Dell computer. The parts of the computer came from all over the world; Dell is truly a global company (Friedman 516-518). While the supply chain mentioned before were strictly political and corporate business, there is a darker side to the use of supply chains. Supply chains are used by the Al-Qaeda for terror, murder and destruction. Unfortunately, the flat world has made terror easier to spread (Friedman 530). Friedman’s theory states that if two countries are part of the same supply chain, they are less likely to war.

This entire book discusses the global flatteners, but geopolitical conflicts could very likely reverse the flattening of the world. Geopolitical conflicts could include North Korea using nuclear weapons on South Korea or India and Pakistan using nuclear weapons against each other (Friedman 520).

            Finally, the last chapter of the book discussed two important dates of the flat world: 11/9 and 9/11. November 9^th is remembered as the day walls were brought down, new possibilities and led to a more open world. However, September 11^th is remembered as destructive, horrendous catastrophe where innocent lives were ended tragically (Friedman 545). We realized that technology can be used for good or pure evil. One should know where that line separating the good and the bad is.

            The World is flat is a wonderful book that discusses how with new technology and innovations, our world has become flat. Starting with the ten flatteners, Friedman has a unique way of presenting his case, while including abundant case studies crediting his information. This book has epitomized the significance of globalization and clearly explained its importance to the world. Friedman keeps the book light and easy to read, even including some jokes throughout the book. In my opinion, this book is a must-read and I would recommend anyone interested in history and economics to read this book.

            In conclusion, globalization is the number one reason as to why our world is flat. As the ten flatteners and globalization converge together, the world has significantly changed. Due to the world becoming flat, both companies and individuals have to transform their business to obtain the most benefits. By making one’s skill set and job unique and untouchable, this could sustain job security, which is very valuable especially now since we are in a recession. The flat world has also revealed that America has fallen behind the developing countries like India and China. America needs to raise the bar quickly or we will very soon lose our hegemonic power.

Work Cited

Friedman, Thomas. The World is Flat. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.

Knox, Paul and Sallie Marston. Human Geography: Places and Humans in Global Context. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.

Is There a New World Order?

            A New World Order is a dramatic change in the balance of world power. The concept of a ‘New World Order’ can be viewed as two main projections. Conspiracy theorists like Joe Wages and Ken Adachi believe that a super powerful group of elite, The Illuminati, will conspire to run the world by condemning current scientific research, creating political turmoil, taking over education and by influencing the world political leaders. Another view of a ‘New World Order’ is proposed by various macro economists, political scientists and academicians. They propagate that the world will soon witness a paradigm shift in hegemonic power from the current core regions (USA, Europe and Japan) to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). They attribute this change to the increasing GDP rates in BRICS, increase in merchandise exports, human development index (HDI) % change, increasing energy use, and the improvements in infrastructure, human capital and technology. This paper will examine the case for the New World Order of the Illuminati, the paradigm shift proposed by world economists, and will present the strong evidence for the New World Order to be that of an economic shift towards a new hegemonic power by the BRICS.

            Conspiracy theorists believe that the New World Order is a secret society of the most powerful and rich elite of our world, who are conspiring to rule the world. This elite group is infamously known as the Illuminati. The Illuminati were profusely discussed in Dan Brown’s book, Angels and Demons. On examining various sources, the Illuminati is believed to be Satanist followers who strive to have complete control of all human beings on this planet (McManus). The goals of the Illuminati include drastically removing the human population by 5.5 billion, establishing a ‘One World Government’, completely destroying national pride and destroying all religions, especially Christianity (Coleman). 

If the Illuminati were to come to power, scientific development will be condemned, unless it is useful for Illuminati motives. Many conspiracy theories, including the Illuminati, have strong emotional appeal (Eisenstein). After mass unemployment, workers would be demoralized and discouraged and will be willing to follow anyone who will bring about change. With the mass unemployment, chaos will soon follow, along with the collapse of world economies. Along with chaos and political turmoil, the Illuminati plans to first give the supranational institutions like United Nations (UN) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) the fullest support, thus making the local institutions less powerful and slowly making them obsolete. After that, the Illuminati will take over and penetrate governments from within to ultimately destroy them (Coleman). Globalization, the interdependence of countries all around the world, will be at the mercy of the Illuminati. Once the Illuminati come to complete power, everything, including the exchange and trade of goods, services and knowledge will be monitored and controlled by the Illuminati. This is when the Illuminati plan to become the hegemonic and totalitarian power of the world.

The Illuminati plan to take over the educational system in America and destroy it. The new type of instruction that would be taught to the children is “Outcome Based Education” in which the children would be programed to be destructive. By doing this, the fundamentals of the Illuminati would be taught to each new generation at a young age. If this is successful, all future generations would think in the same line and will have the same goals as the elite Illuminati (Coleman).

Theory advocates believe that all the leaders in the industrialized countries are active members of the Illuminati (Adachi). Advocates state that only the hand-picked Illuminati members are even eligible to run for office and win for positions such as Prime Minister and President of their respective country. Anyone who does not follow the Illuminati’s way will be killed or ‘taken out’. There is great speculation that President Kennedy, Ali Bhutto of Pakistan and Aldo Moro of Italy were ‘taken out’ by the Illuminati (Adachi).

Joe Wages, an Illuminati theorist and advocator, states that his research shows that the Illuminati have corresponded to Benjamin Franklin and John Adams via letters. This is a huge step for theory advocates in providing evidence that the Illuminati did indeed exist and were in contact with some very influential people of the United States (Wages). The Illuminati theory proposes very secretive motives which are often difficult to prove. In his interview, Joe Wages states that he collects rare primary sources about the Illuminati. Theory advocates use these rare documents to legitimize the existence of the Illuminati (Wages). Coleman presents a strong case for the conspiracy theory, but we have not yet witnessed the downfall of the education system or the shutdown on world governments. Adachi’s reference to the conspiracy theory being behind Kennedy’s assassination has caught the attention of several story tellers and movie makers. A lot of the data and reporting on the Illuminati, such as Wages claims of Illuminati letters is shrouded in mystery. Media and pop culture glamorizes and idealizes the existence of the Illuminati. The concept of the Illuminati is intriguing but lacks concrete evidence to prove its existence and possibility to become the new world order.

While conspiracy theorists believe that the New World Order refers to a group of powerful elite will cause the total collapse and will take over of the world as we know it, political scientists, economists and human geographers have another plausible theory for a New World Order. According to them, a New World Order is a period in history when there is a dramatic change in the world political thought and balance of world power.

 The ‘Old World Order’ refers to the tri-core hegemonic powers of the world, United States, Europe and Japan. Because our world is becoming increasingly flat, we are entering a new age of power. United States, Europe and Japan became hegemonic powers after the fall of communism and the rise of democracy. However, the influence of the these countries are declining, while the developing countries like China and India are becoming wealthier and more powerful than ever before (Walsh). According to Dean Walsh, there will be a new multipolar world with Asia being in the center as soon as 2030. In The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman states how globalization has helped countries like China and India rise in economic status. This is due to outsourcing and offshoring of many secondary and tertiary sector jobs to these developing countries. This New World Order will replace the Western rules and systems with solutions that would benefit more regions than the ‘Old World Order’ has. 

This paradigm shift from the ‘Old World Order’ to a ‘New World Order’ could become a very plausible reality by the efforts of five nations- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) (Gordhan). BRICS is a geopolitical and economic group of nations that presents new global governance and economic relations to the world. The acronym BRICS is now used to describe the shift in power to the southern and eastern parts of the world. BRICS could very possibly be the new reality for the world in a few years because its nations represent about 42% of the total world population (Gordhan). Pravin Gordhan is the finance minister of South Africa. He stated that “global governance is at a tipping point”. This can be accounted for by the increased interdependence of the core countries with the BRICS nations. 

One main objective of the BRICS nations is to strengthen bonds and relationships with fellow BRICS nations and other nations using non-confrontational methods. Another objective of the BRICS is to increase cooperation in economic, finance and trade matters which will help balanced growth of the world economy (Gordhan). Increasing and promoting development in global financial markets and trade systems will help BRICS with this goal.

BRICS realizes the massive effects that have been happening around the world due to climate change and understand how it upsets the lives and livelihood of so many people. BRICS greatly support the research, development and use of renewable energy resources. As we learned in Chapter 4 in the Human Geography textbook, many peripheral countries do not have access to coal or money to import the coal from other countries. Because of this, the people in these peripheral nations often use wood as a source of energy. By cutting down substantial amounts of trees, this will eventually lead to deforestation. Deforestation can lead to enormous soil erosion. This has been especially prevalent in highland areas like Nepal, Peru and the Andean Bolivia (Knox and Marston 156).  BRICS supports finding new forms of sustainable development can be used for all the countries so we do not completely exhaust these valuable resources.

Using renewable energy is crucial to humans continuing to live on this planet. Without other options for energy, other than nonrenewable ones like coal, the world will be in chaos once the coal and fossil fuel is completely exhausted. Forms of renewable energy that are currently being used are wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear and hydroelectric power (Knox and Marston 152). It is projected that within about a decade, the peripheral regions will dominate the consumption of energy (Knox and Marston 153). This makes the need for renewable resource use even more important than before.

BRICS also plan to support the infrastructure development in Africa so they can compete and thrive economically. This will also help many countries in Africa to finally get out of the various debt traps the countries might be in (Gordhan). Just recently, the BRICS nations have planned and agreed to set up a new world bank to demote the increasingly unstable US Dollar and plans to remove it as the global currency of the world (Newman).

An examination of the statistics and data provided by Goldman Sachs revealed some interesting trends. Goldman Sachs, an American multinational investing firm, projected China, India, Brazil and Russia will be among the top ten largest economies by 2050 (BRICS and Beyond). Some economic development indicators include GDP per capita (Gross Domestic Product per person), projected average GDP growth rate, merchandise exports, and HDI % change (Human Development Index).

BRIC's Development Indicators[1]
Country	GDP per capita (in USD)	Projected average GDP growth rate	Merchandise Exports (USD)	HDI % Change
Brazil	$10,499	4.20%	153 billion	7.60%
Russia	$14,913	4.50%	303 billion	3.80%
India	$3,015	8.10%	162 billion	33.30%
China	$6,778	9.50%	1,201 billion	44.20%
Global Sherpa, 2011 (www.globalsherpa.org) Data Sources: World databank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), UNDP Human Development Report

In both China and India, the rapid economic growth gives a proliferation of a larger middle class. In Brazil, China and India, there is a substantial increase in scientific research (BRIC Countries – Background, Latest News, Statistics and Original Articles).  Increases in scientific research and development could give more jobs to the people of the country. With more jobs paying individuals, it could help alleviate people from poverty. 

Another indicator of growth can be the amount spent in research and development. From 2002-2007, China, Brazil and India has doubled spending on science and research (Washington).

In 2007, Goldman Sachs identified the Next 11 (N-11) as the future ‘BRICS’ countries. These countries include Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Philippians, Nigeria, Turkey and Vietnam. Some important economic indicators of these N-11 countries are energy use, infrastructure, urbanization, human capital, and technology (BRICS and Beyond).

As countries develop, become industrialized, and use more energy, they add to the carbon dioxide emissions will skyrocket and will cause global climate change. In 2007, the N-11 countries together consumed about 9% of the world’s energy. About 19% of the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions come from these N-11 countries (BRICS and Beyond). However, energy consumption is increasing, which also leads to increases in carbon dioxide emissions. Mexico, Indonesia, Philippians and Turkey have estimated around $600 billion USD in infrastructure investment (BRICS and Beyond).

Another indicator is spending in infrastructure. Infrastructure investment happens after the second step in the Rostow’s Stages of Economic Development (Knox and Marston 272). Urbanization will support the economic growth of a country. The N-11 countries trail the BRICS countries in urbanization potential. However, the virtual infrastructures like home phones and mobile phones have increased dramatically in the N-11 countries. In South Korea, from 2000-2004, the number of home and mobile phone subscribers have increased from 1,100 phones per 1,000 people to 1,300 phones per 1,000 people. In Turkey, it has increased from about 500 to almost 800 phones per 1,000 people (BRICS and Beyond). Technology adoption, like mobile and home phones, has improved the long term growth of a country.

Life expectancy is a very important economic indicator. In health expenditures (per capita), most of the N-11 countries have surpassed the BRICS countries since 2003. It has been projected that both the BRICS and N-11 nations’ residents will have the same life expectancy as the core countries of today (BRICS and Beyond).

With the BRICS and N-11 countries becoming more industrialized and powerful, more countries will cause the shift from periphery to semi periphery and core country economic status. There are various effects that would be caused by this phenomenon. First, this will definitely change the dynamics of the economic structure of the world. Second, these countries will pollute the environment more, like more carbon dioxide emissions, with the increased number of industries and factories. Third, with many newer industrialized countries, this could lead to many countries having a majority of secondary and tertiary sector jobs which replace the primary sector. Fourth, there would be an increased number of industrialized countries competing at a global scale. Since the peripheral countries are one of the main causes of the increasing global population, the transition from periphery to semi-periphery and core countries will create less of a need to have many children. As heath care opportunities increase, the infant mortality rate will decrease. This will reduce the need to have multiple children as more children will survive. 

In examining the literature and data about the emergence of a New World Order, two prospects come to light. Conspiracy theorists make a compelling case for the Illuminati. However, it is debatable if this secret organization is capable of making the drastic changes needed to emerge as the New World Order. There is overwhelming evidence and statistical data about the BRICS countries emerging to become a multipolar hegemonic power. The shifts in economic growth, energy usage, infrastructure development and health care reforms will truly lead the BRICS to the ‘New World Order’ and eclipse the power of the tri-core hegemony of the USA, Europe and Japan.

Works Cited

Adachi, Ken. The New World Order (NWO) An Overview. 17 May 2012. Web. 1 December 2013.

BRIC Countries – Background, Latest News, Statistics and Original Articles. 2011. Web. 11 December 2013.

"BRICS and Beyond." 2007. Goldman Sachs. Web. 11 December 2013.

Coleman, John. 21 Goals of the Illuminati and The Committee of 300. 15 March 2005. Web. 2 December 2013.

Eisenstein, Charles. Synchronicity, Myth, and the New World Order. 2011. Web. 1 December 2013.

Gordhan, Pravin. Cairo Reviews of Global Affairs. 2010. Web. 5 December 2013.

Knox, Paul L and Sallie A Marston. Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context. Upper Saddle Hill: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.

McManus, Brian. The Illuminati: Conspiracy Theory or New World Order? 1 December 2010. Web. 1 December 2013.

Newman, Alex. BRICS Regimes Forge New World Bank, Call for Global Currency. 3 April 2013. Web. 5 December 2013.

Wages, Joe. Joe Wäges Interview: Illuminati Primary Source Material 10 November 2010. Print. 13 December 2013. .

Walsh, Dean. The Real New World Order – Myth, Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories. 17 December 2012. Web. 2 December 2013.

Washington, R. A. Welcome to the post-BRIC world. 6 May 2013. Web. 15 December 2013.

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[1] Global Sherpa, 2011 (www.globalsherpa.org)