Marber's Seeing the Elephant is a multidisciplinary and holistic perspective of globalization that is long overdue. He illustrates globalization is more than trade or finance or foreign policy, but instead a complex tapestry that reaches across borders, cultures and religions. This complexity had led to great interconnectedness thereby policies that pursue isolation or harp towards the past are not effective at managing outcomes that lead to peace, prosperity and sustainability.
Marber argues that there is no way to maintain status quo. The rise of emerging economies, particularly the E7, a group in contrast to the diminishing dinosaurs of the G7, means that the global playing field is changing.
While the G7 increasingly engages E7 countries economically through trade and now through China largely financing efforts to bailout the US economy, serious political engagement has been slow and conditional. Early and constant engagement with these countries will tend them towards behaviors that value peace and human rights as well as the environment. Real engagement will also empower and incentivize them to maintain peace in their own regions thereby reducing the need for constant western led efforts.
Seeing the Elephant is a must read to understand the true breadth of globalization, the potential pitfalls and the great opportunities that exist. A five star book from a five star, post partisan thinker.
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