A Look at Business Books 2009 on Globalization

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strategy+business gives its list of Best Business Books 2009 and five of them offer insights into the changing topology of global trade and influence.

The best books on globalization this year offer insights into three directional trends that are changing the topology of global trade and influence: the deepening of regional ties across emerging markets; the continuing rise of powerful new global players; and, finally, the intractability of risk factors inherent in emerging markets and regional networks, and how best to analyze them.

Get ready to feed your global mindset and chart your business course. The five featured are:

1. The New Silk Road: How a Rising Arab World Is Turning Away from the West and Rediscovering China

2. Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation

3. India’s Global Powerhouses: How They Are Taking On the World

4. The Fat Tail: The Power of Political Knowledge for Strategic Investing

5. Riches among the Ruins: Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy (pictured above)

strategy+business's review conclusion:

An unmistakable conclusion that we share with all the books featured in this essay is the assertion that the U.S. has lost its status as the preeminent driver of globalization. Thus, we predict that two trends will typify the next phase of globalization: First, stronger regionalism in terms of deepening economic integration in areas such as East Asia, Latin America, and the Arab world will be driven by local powers such as China, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia. Second, the global playing field for firms, capital, and strategies will become much more level as Western companies lose the automatic edge they once held in trust and credibility. (See “Capturing the Asian Opportunity,” by Andrew Cainey, Suvojoy Sengupta, and Steven Veldhoen, s+b, Winter 2009.) Companies in emerging and frontier markets may not become global leaders in their own right, but they will surely be powerful players in their own domains and beyond.

Care to share other enlightening books you read on globalization in 2009? We'll highlight them here on The Global Small Business Blog.