Study Questions for p. 248-256 of Chapter 12 of  The Lexus and the Olive Tree.


1. What is Friedman’s “The Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention?   Explain.

"No two countries that both had McDonald's had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald's" (p. 248).
"when a country reached a level of economic development where it had a middle class big enough to support a McDonald's network...people in McDonald's countries didn't like to fight wars" (p. 249)

2. So, why isn’t globalization the answer to conflict?

3. How does today’s globalization, however, increase the costs of going to war?
Today's globalization includes an expansive network of conncetions between countries and businesses operating within an increasingly free market.  A president, prime minister, or king who chooses to act militarily is constrained by these economic connections.

4. How does globalization “sharpen civil wars”?

5. Why did the Serbs relinquish Kosovo?
Because they had grown accustomed to being  linked to the European and global economy.  When NATO isolated the Serbs and deprived them of these links, they relinquished Kosovo to get reconnected.

6. How was the Cold War a chess board which included an incentive for superpower involvement in regional conflicts?
Because the 2 superpowers understood their competition to be world-wide.  Every country  was part of the game.  Subsequently, the US and USSR involved themselves in numerous regional conflicts aroudn the world.

7. How was Albania an example of how under globalization, regional conflicts are handled differently?
Neither the US or Russia wanted responsibility for Albania and the result of its civil war.  During the Cold War, the US and USSR would have taken sides in the civil war.