By Elizabeth Grossman Special writer, The Oregonian A family farm in Oregon ships 40 percent of its vegetables to Korea and Taiwan. The Chinese appetite for wheat may affect the recovery of endangered Columbia and Snake River salmon runs. Asian stock markets determine job growth at companies such as Intel and Nike. The Japanese economy influences the fortunes of Pacific Northwest timber workers. This is globalization, the new international system of the post-Cold War world.
Globalization is fueled by technology and high-speed telecommunications.
Friedman, a foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times who won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for his book From Beirut to Jerusalem , uses his professional travels to illustrate his theories of this new world order. No one is, or will be, immune to the effects of globalization, he asserts. It leaves people behind quicker than ever, and it helps catch them up quicker than ever. It's not always pretty or gentle or comfortable. As your country puts on the Golden Straitjacket . . .