Introduction

As first a journalist in Asia, then a foreign service officer in Europe, then a business executive in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, then as a U.S. Trade Negotiator, and finally as the head of the Economic Strategy Institute and an author, I have written primarily on how globalization is fundamentally reshaping our future. I ...

As first a journalist in Asia, then a foreign service officer in Europe, then a business executive in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, then as a U.S. Trade Negotiator, and finally as the head of the Economic Strategy Institute and an author, I have written primarily on how globalization is fundamentally reshaping our future. I have seen its power to enrich and also its potential for creating distortions and conflict. I have come to realize that the American understanding of the purposes and dynamics of globalization is quite different from that of the rest of the world and particularly from that of Asia. That asymmetry underlies the present unsustainable global economic imbalances and economic crises, the conflicts that arise from them, and the inability of the global institutions to resolve them.

I hope with this blog to contribute to better understanding of the conflicts and ultimately to contribute to a future of truly win-win globalization for all players. In particular, I’ll be watching the strategic trade and industrial policies of Asia and Europe and at how they interact with the more laissez-faire American approach in determining the shape of the future.

My approach will be somewhat contrarian. I am firmly convinced that globalization is not always a win-win proposition, that countries do compete economically, and that there are winners and losers in this competition. So I’ll be keeping score. But most importantly, I’ll be trying to take my readers beyond the knee jerk orthodoxies and mythologies of globalization to show them what is really happening. I look forward to receiving, learning from, and responding to lots of criticism.

Clyde Prestowitz is the founder and president of the Economic Strategy Institute, a former counselor to the secretary of commerce in the Reagan administration, and the author of The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership. Twitter: @clydeprestowitz

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