Think Globally

Books on globalization aren't new.  There is just more of them.  Here's a few:


1.  The Clash of Civilizations: Remaking of World Order, Samuel Huntington (1996).  Huntington analyzes the world through 9 civilizations. Bought new. 

2.  The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman (2005).  Friedman's examination of how technology is connecting the world.  Bought used somewhere.

3.  The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall, Ian Bremmer (2006). Bremmer presents a helpful theory to understand how nations transition from totalitarian states to democracies.  Received from book signing.

4.  America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, Mark Steyn (2006).   Steyn sees Europe in decline from its falling birth rate and welfare state, and America still able to survive through its ideas but just barely. Bought new.

 5.  Democratic Ideals and Reality, Halford Mackinder (1919, reissued 1942).    Mackinder was an eminent British geographer who suggested that the control of Eastern Europe was vital to control of the world. He formulated his hypothesis as:

Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland
Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island
Who rules the World-Island commands the world

Influenced the Germans, Russians and Allies leading up to WWII.  Bought used

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6.  East and West, C. Northcote Parkinson (1963).   Parkinson, (another English historian--who coined the phrase, "work expands to fill the amount of time you have to fulfill it") examines the back and forth of different civilizations and the reliance of one country on another for defense.  Bought used at the State Department Bookstore.