Good comments, Gerard.

Post #15,431 by a6l6e6x 10/27/01 3:16:57 PM Reply	Good comments, Gerard. "...he's very clear-headed and no-nonsense when it comes to American foreign policy." That was my take. He's not one of those instant experts. Alex Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Post #15,448 by gtall 10/27/01 8:00:52 PM Reply	Yer right He's not an instant expert. He covers economic matters, but those invariably lead to political ones. His book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, is an examination of the tension between globalization (in economic terms) and local customs. Most nations want global markets and global trade. What they do not necessarily want is the foreign intrusion on local customs. But one cannot have one without the other. This (he considers) is the central tension between the West and the Emerging Economies (to be PC or not to be PC? What the hell have they done to my brain?). How a nation answers this central dilemma orients the nation with respect to the West which is hell bent on globalism. Gerard Allwein
Post #15,454 by a6l6e6x 10/27/01 9:06:14 PM Reply	Yep, he's been reporting on Middle East for decades. [link\|http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0201/friedman.asp\|About Friedman.] His reporting in the 1980s for The New York Times from Lebanon and Israel was widely cited and won him two Pulitzer Prizes. Alex Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

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