Seeing the Elephant: Understanding Globalization from Trunk to Tail (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: intelligence community, world energy consumption, official development assistance, United States, World Bank, Macro Quantum (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Thanks to globalization, more countries depend on each other for trade, capital, and ideas than ever before. Yet politically, these countries are drifting further apart. In Seeing the Elephant, author and emerging markets expert Peter Marber describes how increasing economic integration and the rise of new actors is drastically altering the geopolitical landscape, and offers insights on how the US can maintain a leading role in the 21st century and beyond.

While America remains the single most important economy today, rising economic powerhouses — China, Russia, India, Brazil and others — bring a diverse set of interests to the table that the US cannot afford to ignore, Marber explains. Moreover, globalization has created thousands of non-state actors – corporations, banks, hedge funds, activists and even terrorists – who bring their own concerns to bear on the world system.

In the era of globalization, America's success hinges on the success of its neighbors, too. Yet from its invasion of Iraq to its disregard of major treaties — some recent US choices have shown little regard for these new players. As the lines between economic, defense, environmental, immigration, and energy policy become increasingly blurred, having a holistic and coherent approach to cross-border challenges is essential. Yet the forums and institutions that once coordinated these relationships – the UN, World Bank and the G7— are losing relevance and no longer adequately represent the world's expanded power roster. To remain vital, Marber believes all our multilateral institutions will require fresh ideas and revamping.

Seeing the Elephant demystifies globalization, and analyzes the megatrends and interconnections of the 21st century. With bold suggestions on how America reassert its historic leadership in the new global arena, Seeing the Elephant should be required reading for policy makers, businessmen and informed citizens alike.

From the Inside Flap

In the new millennium, it is nearly impossible for us to talk about basic concerns like food or gas prices, without examining global intersections in trade, energy, immigration, the environment, and defense. Many countries once described as "developing" nations now wield greater economic and political influence than some of the so-called "major" powers. Former debtor nations have become creditors of the United States and other developed countries that run budget deficits. Without recognizing and understanding these connections, we cannot even begin to discuss how the United States and other countries can craft and harness effective policies amid this breathtaking progress. In Seeing the Elephant, Peter Marber describes how increasing economic integration and the rise of new actors is drastically altering the geopolitical landscape, and offers insights on how the U.S. can make policy to maintain a leading role in the years to come.

The twenty-first century, Marber explains, demands a very different lens for viewing the world. In the era of globalization, America's success hinges on the success of its neighbors, too. Rising economic powerhouses—China, Russia, India, Brazil, and others—bring a diverse set of interests to the table that the U.S. cannot afford to ignore. Moreover, globalization has created thousands of non-state actors—corporations, banks, hedge funds, activists, and even terrorists—who bring their own concerns to bear. Marber underscores the importance of forging strong relationships with pivotal developing nations and America's need to reaffirm the centricity of global protocols, rules, and institutions after an unfortunate period of neglect. It's not too late. By focusing on seven key cross-border, interlinking issues—trade and finance, energy, security, immigration, health, the environment, and poverty—Marber recommends key adjustments in policies that aim to strengthen and modernize our current institutional infrastructure, including NATO, the WHO, the WTO, the World Bank, and the UN, among others. While his strategies do not guarantee that the United States will remain on top economically, they ensure that the global system America helped to create triumphs in the end, protecting against the factionalism that led to two World Wars and destroyed decades of economic progress.

In this timely book, Marber demystifies globalization and analyzes new international megatrends and interconnections. With bold suggestions on how America can reassert its historic leadership in the new global arena, Seeing the Elephant will show readers how the U.S. still remains the planet's best chance at building enduring peace and prosperity.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 420 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (February 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470283858
• ISBN-13: 978-0470283851
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #553,453 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A five star book from a five star, post partisan thinker., May 15, 2009

By	Kamil Kaluza - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Read, February 18, 2009

By	A. Quku - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Best book to help you understand where the world is going.

Marber takes both the intellectual rigor of an academic and the pragmatic insight of an investor to analyze the underlying issues that are changing the world at a break-neck pace.

It is useful both as a primer on the modern international economy and as a go-to handbook for policy makers and portfolio managers alike.

Worth it for the insightful asides and case studies alone. His assessment of the cost of health care to companies is particularly apt in light of Detroit's search for additional bailouts.

Overall, makes complex issues very accessible.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OUTSTANDING!, February 11, 2009

By	J. Rickley Dumm - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

EXCELLENT WRITING, INSIGHTFUL, AND DEFINITELY A BOOK FOR THOSE WITH AN INTEREST AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE CURRENT STATUS OF OUR GLOBAL ECONOMY.