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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page review and analysis of author Thomas Friedman's view of globalization as represented in his book "The Lexus and the Olive Tree." The writer argues that Friedman's analysis is too simplistic to accurately represent globalization. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khlextre.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
the post-Cold War world, it is first necessary to gain an understanding of the new international system, which has succeeded it globalization. What quickly becomes clear about Friedmans analysis is
that, for him, globalization is not a concept, or an analytical framework, or a process, but rather a new religion that will re-write the world in Americas image. Friedman appears
to feel that this is a good thing; however, another interpretation of Friedmans book is that the "ugly American" is alive and well and thriving in the new millennium.
The lyrical title of this work alludes to Friedmans principal analogy one that he works well past the point of exhaustion. The "Lexus" in question is, quite literally, the car
by that name. Friedman has intimate knowledge of this model because thats the kind of car he drives. According to Friedman, the Lexus represents efficiency, transnationality and technological sophistication, i.e.,
a perfect symbol for the new global economy (as well as a glowing endorsement for the brandname). In other words, the Lexus represents the modernizing free market global economy. The
"olive tree," on the other hand, refers to such elements as tradition, local culture and local identities. The "olive tree" is the sense of identity and place that is important
to cultures all over the world. Friedman pictures these two elements as coexisting in the present world and reacting against each other, polarizing the world in a manner similar to
the east-west divide that was the defining characteristic of the Cold War. For Friedman, globalization is synonymous with Americanization and he actually uses it in this manner with the
phrase "Americanization-globalization." His view of globalization remains intimately linked with his concept of the US, a view which is so parochially American that one can easily imagine that he could
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