ABSTRACT
In his book The World Is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman classifies globalization into three time phases, described as follows. Globalization 1.0 began with Columbus discovering the New World in 1492 and ended before the British industrial revolution in the 1800s. Globalization 2.0 began with the industrial revolution and ended in the year 2000. Globalization 3.0 began in the year 2000. Friedman states that the three phases involved different driving forces and dominant factors. Specifically, in Globalization 1.0, the primary driving forces and dominant factors were “a country’s strength” and “imperialism.” In Globalization 2.0, the driving force was multinational corporations. In Globalization 3.0, the driving force is information technology. Friedman’s timeline of globalization is extremely helpful in that it characterizes the relationship between the development of productivity and globalization and clearly highlights the promotional effects of the industrial revolution on globalization. Moreover, Friedman’s classification identifies the protagonists of globalization in different periods. In Globalization 1.0, the dominant country was the United Kingdom, which promoted globalization through imperial expansion and the spread of capitalism. In Globalization 2.0, the dominant country was the United States, which promoted globalization through the global allocation of resources by American companies after the second industrial revolution. Friedman believes that information technology will shape global production and outsourcing will become more prevalent, thereby integrating more countries into the global production system and forming what he calls a “flat earth.” However, although Friedman proposes a robust history of globalization, he fails to predict the occurrence of reverse globalization.
