The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans And The Competitive Edge: Picking Globalism's Winners And Losers

The Story

Why is Japan, a country that looked economically invincible a decade ago stagnating, while long-moribund Ireland booms? What qualities will insure the continued dominance in the new millennium of U.S. culture, society and business?In The Global Me, The Wall Street Journal's G. Pascal Zachary provides a provocative roadmap to the new civilization arising out of sweeping shifts in the world economy. He reveals -- through vivid examples of individuals and institutions -- that the key new determinants for economic, political and cultural success are, surprisingly, national diversity and a 'mongrel' sense of self. Roaming the globe, Zachary shows how the rise of new forms of identity and migration are helping to determine exactly who will win and lose in the next century. Zachary's thesis isn't just about countries, but about individuals, too. In his tour of a new global civilization, we meet a fascinating gallery of characters who possess an intriguing mix of 'roots' and 'wings'. Strong enough to know who they are, they are nevertheless ceaselessly becoming someone else -- and in the process bestowing the gifts of creativity and social harmony on the cities and states that they call home.Social critics, pundits, politicians and economists will argue about The Global Me this season. Years from now they will realize the prescience of Zachary's original and compelling vision of a world where nations who embrace multiculturalism win big and those who do not are doomed to stagnation or worse.