Globalization does not, in the main, benefit the unskilled and semiskilled in any society. Economic policy decisions can never be divorced from the sociopolitical realities on the ground. The political leaders of smaller nations must balance the need for stability against the demands of an increasingly shrill and American-dominated international media.
Economic unorthodoxy is viewed as heresy and damned forthwith.
Globalization has become the new mantra of Washington policymakers. In years to come we will recognize the twin debacles of Indonesia and Russia as the death knell for this misguided and deeply inhumane political and economic doctrine. Human beings, whether they live in Akron, Chisinau, Chongqing, or Penang, are not mere factors of production. We forget that at our own peril. Karim Raslan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Explaining globalization as Americanization has become too easy a way out of doing our homework on what it actually is.