Titans of Investing

Group 16

THE WORLD IS FLAT

A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
By Thomas L. Friedman

CLASSIC BRIEF BY EXECUTIVE SPONSORS:

John L. Claybrook Susan Byrne, Westwood Group
William Conway, Carlyle Group
jclaybrook13@gmail.com Gregory Fleming, Morgan Stanley
Lanny Martindale, Texas A&M University
Classic Brief: The World Is Flat Titans of Investing, Group 16
Introduction

Like Columbus sailing for the “new world” in 1492, Friedman set out on a journey after the turn
of the century to document the radical changes across the world due to the immense growth in
technology since the 1980’s. Through interviews and case studies of executives and businesses
domestic and international, Friedman opens the reader’s eyes to a more competitive and
connected world than we could imagine. If we pay attention, the flatness of our world is real and
occurring rapidly, making knowledge of this phenomenon of critical importance if we hope to
keep pace.

How the World Became Flat

Friedman begins his journey in Bangalore, India, a city which appears to him more like an
American city than an Indian city. Companies such as HP and 3M have their offices along a golf
course he plays, and Pizza Hut has billboards lining the streets. His first meeting is held at Infosys
Technologies Limited, a powerful information technology company headquartered in Bangalore,
where he is greeted by CEO Nandan Nilekani. As he tours the campus, Friedman is brought to a
room covered from wall to wall with TV screens small and large. Nilekani explains Infosys’ ability
to conduct meetings with designers from the United States, software writers in India, and
manufacturers in East Asia, all at the same time. Fueled by instant connectivity, Infosys
synthesized the strengths of various centers of business across the world. This experience
opened Friedman’s eyes to the new world we live in and is characterized by a thought shared
with his wife after he arrived home: “Honey, I think the world is flat.”

Friedman explains the three great eras of globalization since 1492, beginning with Globalization
1.0, which shrank the world from large to medium size. Countries and their respective strength
defined this era. Those who utilized their size and power more effectively, like Spain and Great
Britain, dominated the world. In Globalization 2.0, from 1800-2000, the world was dominated by
multinational companies and took the world from size medium to small. Falling transportation
costs, accredited to advancements with the steam engine and the railroad, and lower
telecommunication costs, accredited to advancements with the telegraph, telephone, the PC,
fiber-optic cable and early versions of the World Wide Web, allowed companies to go global for
markets and labor. Hardware was the essential driver in this period of time and laid the
foundation for Globalization 3.0, which is currently shrinking the world from size small to tiny.
The current state of globalization is driven primarily by software, which has empowered billions
of individuals across the world. Necessary to this growth was the foundation laid by massive
investments in technology hardware across the world, such as fiber-optic cables laid under the
oceans and massive advancements in the personal computer.

These major advancements in technology, which have empowered individuals all over the globe
have drastically changed the competitive landscape for business. For instance, call center jobs
once located in their countries of operation have been largely relocated and outsourced to India.
At the time of writing, India was home to 245,000 call center jobs; in America, these are low
prestige, low income jobs, but in India they are high prestige, high income jobs. Companies not
only outsource to save money, but also experience up to a 100% increase in productivity from
making the move to India. Outsourcing is much more than saving money- companies now
outsource to “run up the score” on the competition. Another interesting example of cost saving

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and increased productivity comes from JetBlue, whichat the time was experimenting with
“homesourcing. Travel agents booked flights from their homes, increasing productivity by an
estimated 30%. JetBlue’s goal was to eventually do all of their bookings through individuals
working from their homes. Both outsourcing and homesourcing are founded in the same idea-
sourcing, which is made possible through the empowerment of the individual via technology
across the world.

The Ten Forces That Flattened the World

Friedman separates the flattening of the world into the ten forces which shrunk our global
community. The first three events, 11/8/89, 8/9/95 and the development of work flow software,
made possible six new forms of collaboration: uploading, outsourcing, offshoring, supply-
chaining, insourcing and in-forming.

1. 11/9/89: The fall of the Berlin Wall opened the world to democratic, free-market oriented
governance, not only through the liberation of those under the power of the Soviet Union,
but also flung open the windows of economic freedom to Brazil, India, and China, as well.
Contributing greatly to the fall of the Berlin Wall was the development of the personal
computer, which allowed individuals to communicate more freely and efficiently.
2. 8/9/95: Netscape goes public and makes the World Wide Web available to download and
easy to use for any individual. Essential to the organization of the World Wide Web was
the development of protocols for computers to “speak” to each other, such as HTTP,
HTML, POP and TCP/IP.
3. Work Flow Software: The Windows-enabled PC gives businesses the ability to manipulate
digital content at their desks, making work within business more horizontal. This
software standardized the way words, data, music and pictures were formatted and
digitized, giving companies freedom to manipulate information themselves. The
standardization of Internet language protocol enabled computers to communicate
information across the Internet with efficiency and security. Eventually, all the Internet
platforms began using the same language, which made use of the Internet immensely
simple for individuals and businesses. These work-flow softwares have continued to
develop and at the time of writing, AJAX was the newest software, which allowed business
to track inventory, conduct customer relations, develop products, manage projects and
manage human resources all through the same code.
4. Uploading: The Internet has given individuals the ability to add their own content to the
global community, effectively flipping the traditional flow of information from a top-down
model to a bottom-up model. Stemming from this shift in information sharing is a massive
growth in the “open-source” community. Open-sourcing brings together a massive
community of coding experts that collaborate to develop technology, which is
subsequently offered for free download to anyone interested in utilizing the technology.
An example of open-sourcing at its best is the development of Apache, a web server
available for download created entirely by an open-source community. In addition to
developing technology like Apache, uploading has created a massive network of
individuals bringing information to the Internet through blogs that share news and
commentary and sites like Wikipedia, a user-inspired online encyclopedia.
5. Outsourcing: In the 1950’s, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru set up the first of
India’s seven Indian Institutes of Technology, laying a foundation for a massive

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population of technology workers, who, in 1999, facing the impending Y2K crisis, were
able to partner with American companies to take on the massive need to reprogram
computers in anticipation of world-wide computer shutdowns. This partnership began
the shift in outsourcing rudimentary technology work to India.
6. Offshoring: In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization, which ensured China
would abide by global standards for imports, exports and foreign investments. This gave
companies the freedom to export functions such as manufacturing to China, where costs
would be reduced dramatically to produce the exact same products. According to a study
by U.S. Conference Board, not only were private companies in China able to produce equal
quality products as the United States, but productivity in manufacturing also increased
17% annually from 1995-2002. Additionally, foreign manufacturing also increases the
market presence of companies creating products in foreign countries.
7. Supply-Chaining: Efficient global supply chains enable companies to quickly communicate
information between all vendors as demand for products ebbs and flows. The clear
example is Wal-Mart, a gigantic company that has dominated their industry by low costs,
made possible through their highly efficient supply chain. Currently, Wal-Mart tracks all
their products with Radio Frequency Identification Microchips (RFID), which records
exactly where every product is in the supply chain, the speed at which items are sold, and
when supplies need to be replenished.
8. Insourcing: Companies, such as UPS, have recently become logistics managers and
partners with other companies, such as Toshiba, drastically improving the speed at which
customers are served. For instance, after recognizing that computer repairs were taking
too long, Toshiba collaborated with UPS, asking them to pick up broken computers, repair
the computers and return the computers. Not only does UPS partner with Toshiba, but
they also serve as logistics experts and coordinators for companies such as Nike, Papa
John’s and HP. Because of the ability of these companies, and many more, to grow
horizontally through UPS, the small companies are now able to act big, focusing on their
core competencies while growing globally.
9. In-forming: Search engines have made all the world’s information equally available to
those with a computer at the click of a button. The democratization of information
through search engines, such as Google, has empowered individuals all over the globe,
making information accessible to anyone and effectively evening the playing field.
10. The Steroids: Broken down into five main categories, the steroids enhance uploading,
outsourcing, offshoring, supply-chaining, insourcing and in-forming. The first is the
increasing capabilities in computation, storage and inputting/outputting information
through computers. The second is the breakthrough in instant messaging and file sharing.
Phone calls being made over the Internet, or Voice Over Internet Protocol, VoIP, is the
third steroid. Fourth, is videoconferencing and fifth is the major advancements in
computer graphics. All of these factors allow individuals to communicate and collaborate
faster and more efficiently.

In order to feel the full effect of these flatteners, they needed to converge; convergence has
certainly happened since the dot-com boom of the late 1990’s. When these major forces
converged, new players entered the game, the playing field changed, and new processes for
horizontal collaboration were created. This convergence created a new, Web-enabled platform
which introduced competition into the marketplace that never before existed. American students
competing for top technology jobs at IBM now had to compete with thousands of high-IQ

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students in India and China, who now had access to opportunities never thought imaginable
through the flattening of the world. Additionally, businesses now must operate more
horizontally, with no regard to distance, time or language, to maintain their position in the
competitive global landscape. In order to successfully implement the convergence of these
forces, businesses needed to place managers comfortable with administering the strengths of
new technology into the business practices of companies. Not until the forces of convergence
were truly taken advantage of did they have their full effect in changing the competitive
landscape. These forward-thinking managers capitalized on the benefits of “horizontalization” by
connecting and collaborating with the strengths available across the globe. Lastly, with the
flattening of the world, nearly three billion people entered the marketplace for innovation. Those
in China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Central Asia now had access to the
same information and opportunities, through search engines traditionally available only to those
in developed, capitalistic societies. These new competitors come from fifty or more years of pent
up anticipation of the opportunity to live the American Dream they have constantly seen on
television and talked about with their peers. In summation, the triple convergence, as described
by Friedman, has blown away our walls, ceiling and floors simultaneously. The walls that
prohibited collaboration were destroyed by fiber-optic cables, the Internet and work-flow
software. The ceilings were blown away by the ability of individuals to now upload any thought
or innovation at any time. The floor was removed by the ability of individuals to dig deeper into
their passions and ideas through access to a world of information found on the Web.

With the convergence of the ten forces rapidly flattening our world, new relationship dynamics
exist between individuals, companies and governments that are drastically changing the way we
think. Individuals now think in terms of what is best for themselves as citizens and taxpayers,
while also desiring stability as employees and pure profit as shareholders. Meanwhile,
government, run by those who seek reelection every few years, desires to satisfy their voters by
keeping jobs in the United States while being good stewards of taxpayer money. A gigantic
dilemma exists for individuals across the spectrum in deciding where they fit in a flat world. An
example of this dilemma is explained through an outsourcing initiative in the state of Indiana. An
RFP was released to upgrade the state’s computer systems that process unemployment data.
Coming in over $8 million cheaper than the closest competitor was India’s Tata Consultancy
Services Ltd. In this situation, an Indian firm offered to save the taxpayers of the state of Indiana
$8.1 million by improving their unemployment claims process, while creating jobs for Indians
and improving the American branch of their business. In today’s world, one must ask: “Who is
the exploited and who is the exploiter?”

America and The Flat World

The premise of this section of the book lies in America not only removing any barriers to trade
and information sharing, but also in a strategy at home to encourage innovation by improving
education while bringing more countries into the global-trade system, thereby increasing
demand for supplies and services while decreasing unemployment and job migration. The idea is
similar to that of an object floating in a body of water- when the water level increases, the object
rises no matter where it is. When the level of water decreases, the object also decreases in
relation to the water level. In the same way, when the global trade system is free, encouraging
the most efficient flow of resources, countries, companies and individuals will also benefit from
this flow of trade. To encourage Americans to subscribe to this brand of thinking, Friedman

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reminds us, “The Indians and Chinese are not racing us to the bottom. They are racing us to the
top- and that is a good thing!” In a culture that leans more towards protectionism and anti-
outsourcing frames of mind, the concept that all benefit from a flat and free world through
efficient allocation of resources and an expanded marketplace is critical to understand.

To stay ahead in an extremely competitive global market, Friedman identifies categories of

workers, which will experience job security: extreme specialists, extreme localists and those in
the “old middle.” In order to compete in a flat world, the “old middle” must find their place in the
“new middle” as:

- The Great Collaborators and Orchestrators: those who are able to administrate and
execute 24/7/7 horizontal, global supply chains
- The Great Synthesizers: those who effectively bring together differing experts, such as
mathematicians and marketing managers, to create innovative products and services
- The Great Explainers: writers, managers, journalists and others who are able to break
down complex global trends into simple instructions for others to understand easily
- The Great Leveragers: those who have the ability to integrate the best of what computers
can do with the best of what humans can do to increase productivity in businesses
- The Great Adaptors: those able to apply a depth of skill to a wide array of situations, while
building strong relationships and assuming new roles
- The Green People: those with expertise in renewable and sustainable energy
- The Passionate Personalizers: those who add a personal, intangible dimension to their
occupations
- The Math Lovers: experts in math now have roles to play in virtually every aspect of a
business, from technology to finance and even to marketing
- The Great Localizers: those who understand the ten forces of globalization and their
subsequent convergence to meet the needs of local clients through small business, which
does the majority of the hiring and firing in the United States

As the middle class changes quickly, workers need to also adjust their skills to fall into one of
these nine categories and those that emerge from the categories listed to achieve job security
and financial prosperity.

With the aforementioned advancements in computer technology, many of the traditional jobs
held by Americans have been, and will continue to be, computerized. As we move forward,
Friedman proposes the development of the right brain, which processes context, emotional
expression and synthesis. Important to the growth of right brain capabilities is the ability to
“learn how to learn”- that is, knowing how to teach yourself new skills and concepts. Critical to
the ability to absorb and process information is the ability to navigate through the noise so
prevalent in our culture, such as mindless social media, television and Web surfing. Friedman
introduces an equation that gives those who abide by it an extreme competitive advantage: CQ +
PQ > IQ, or Curiosity Quotient plus Passion Quotient is greater than Intelligence Quotient. With
access to information about anything on the globe, education opportunities are limitless; all
young people need is curiosity and passion to rise above the rest of the pack. To illustrate the
value of right brain development, passion and curiosity, Friedman refers to Georgia Tech
University, a highly touted mathematical college with a world-renowned engineering program.
Through focusing on admitting students with backgrounds in music and developing a much

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larger than average music program at the university, President G. Wayne Clough saw graduation
rates rise from 65% in 1994 to 76% by 2005. Georgia Tech also tailored their engineering
program to allow students to have expertise in two relevant fields of engineering which allowed
them to make connections in fields not related before the flattening of the world.

In 2004, the American basketball team, composed of some of the greatest individual players in
the world, competed in the Olympics. After losing only one game in the history of the modern
Olympics, the United States took home only the bronze medal after losing to Puerto Rico,
Lithuania, and Argentina. With traditionally dominant talent, the Americans failed to work
together like their opponents and it showed on the court. In the same way, many Americans fail
to recognize the drive of our foreign peers as well as the opportunities granted to them through
the flattening of the world. Friedman proposes three keys to countries who will win the race to
the top in the flat world: infrastructure to connect, education programs and knowledge skills for
people to innovate and appropriate governing policies related to tax, trade laws, research and
intellectual property. As Friedman shows, America is suffering in all of these areas, which he
describes as his “Dirty Little Secrets.”

1. The Numbers Gap: which describes the massive decrease in the number of eighteen to
twenty-four year old Americans receiving science degrees, which has dropped to
seventeenth in the world; little work is being done to change this.
2. The Education Gap at the Top: referring to a lack of adequate education resulting in poor
performance metrics for American fourth to eighth grade students in relation to the other
top students in the world. For example, in the results of the Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study, which is the most comprehensive international study in
the world, 44% of eighth grade students in Singapore scored at the most advanced level at
math as compared to 7% of American eighth grade students.
3. The Ambition Gap: holds that outsourcing jobs overseas not only cuts costs but also
increases efficiency to 100% from 75% if the jobs were kept in America. Foreign peers of
American young people are far more competitive and driven than many Americans, who
are raised in an “everybody wins” type of culture.
4. The Education Gap at the Bottom: The American education system has allowed local
communities to organize education on a localized level, resulting in a patchwork
education system that gave better educations to those in wealthy communities and dismal
educations to those living in poverty. With many lower-end jobs dying out through the
flattening of the world, lackluster education now leads to a dead-end for many in poor
communities.
5. The Funding Gap: describing the 37% decrease in federal funding for research in physical
and mathematical sciences and engineering as a share of GDP from 1970-2004.
6. The Infrastructure Gap: details America’s failure to increase broadband connectivity,
which curtails advancing productivity and innovation in almost every sector.

To sum it up, Friedman writes, “In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today,
Britney Spears is Britney Spears, and that is our problem.”

The challenge we face today is “not a test” and requires a strategic comprehensive approach
from the United States to maintain our position as a global economic and political power.
Friedman likens our crisis to that of the Cold War and encourages the competitive spirit drawn

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out in every American to fight for our position as leader of the free world. The idea he
encourages is “compassionate flatism”, a call to significant improvements in science, math and
engineering, and a government, which commits to laying the foundation for its citizens to
succeed. Our politicians need to focus more on radical transformation rather than never-ending
repair of the broken system we inhabit. In addition to transforming the system, our politicians
must have knowledge of our flattening world, combined with imagination and inspiration to
drive their constituents to success. Compassionate flatism also calls for a change in companies
promising lifetime employment to a process of ensuring lifetime employability. Ensuring lifetime
employability entails companies providing their employees with opportunities to learn the skills
of the aforementioned “new middle class”, such as the ability to adapt, synthesize, and create.
Friedman calls for more flexible benefits packages, which follow the employee from job-to-job,
and more available secondary education opportunities for any individual. The third change
Friedman advocates is to “keep the good fat”, referring to government social programs that
provide citizens incentive to work and innovate. One such example is wage insurance, which
would cover half the drop in an individual’s income from their previous job, capped at $10,000.
Lastly, Friedman calls for improved parenting in the United States, affirming them with the truth
about the world they live in and challenging them to work hard in the new competitive
landscape.

Developing Countries and the Flat World

In order for developing countries, who have traditionally not significantly participated in the
global market, to have a presence in the flat world, Friedman focuses on policies necessary for
developing countries to adopt in order to succeed. Initially, these countries must undergo serious
introspection in an attempt to define the capabilities and weaknesses they possess. Developing
countries must undergo “reform wholesale”, meaning laying a foundation for growth by
establishing the policies necessary for free trade and global enterprise. However, these countries
cannot simply stop there. They must also undergo “reform retail”, by investing in infrastructure,
education and governance, giving citizens the framework by which they can succeed and take
advantage of the flat world. The World Bank International Finance Corporation (IFC) reports
countries must establish the appropriate level of regulation in competitive markets. One notable
example of a country who successfully implemented reform wholesale and retail is Ireland, who,
at the time of writing, was the second richest country in the European Union. Beginning in the
late 1960’s, Ireland successfully established a program of fiscal austerity, cut corporate taxes
significantly, invested in education and brought in foreign investments. Ireland’s success proves
that companies not only search for cheap labor, but they are focused on a sophisticated
workforce as well. Another factor in the growth of developed countries is an analysis of their
culture in terms of how well a culture “glocalizes”, that is, combining the best practices and
foreign ideas with the strengths of their culture. Friedman attributes the failure of many Middle
Eastern, Muslim countries to adapt to the flat world. Lastly, in order for developing countries to
thrive, Friedman notes that “intangible things”- a society’s buy-in to economic development and
leaders with a vision for their country, pulls together the traits fundamental to growth. Through
a commitment to this collective set of ideas and policies, globalization has the ability to lift
billions out of poverty and into relative prosperity.

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Companies and the Flat World

Through interviewing numerous business executives, Friedman recognized the most successful
companies participated in a ruthless drive to adapt to the flat world. He summarized
characteristics of successful, conforming companies into nine rules.

1. In a flat world, anything is possible, and it is up to the company to decide whether they
will drive the innovation or if they will be scrambling to keep up with the competition.
2. The most important competition for a company lies in its ability to challenge its own
imagination.
3. Small companies must execute their innovative ideas by acting big, reaching “farther,
faster, wider and deeper”.
4. Big companies must learn to act small by enabling their customers to act big through
individual empowerment.
5. Companies are now facing complex issues and in order to overcome these problems, the
best companies are the most effective collaborators.
6. Companies must constantly evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, honing in on their
strengths and making them their core business while outsourcing their weaknesses.
7. Top companies “outsource to win”, giving themselves ability to innovate quickly and
cheaply.
8. The manner in which companies treat their customers, suppliers, and investors is more
critical to the success of business than ever before.
9. The flattening of the world is a train that cannot be stopped. Successful companies don’t
fight this trend, but embrace it and dig inside themselves for innovation.

In an interview with childhood friend Ken Greer, Friedman uncovers the success of modern day
companies lies in their uniqueness in carrying out the nine rules previously covered.

You and the Flat World

Many globalization critics argue globalization will cause the decay of cultural uniqueness by
Americanizing the entire globe. However, in traveling across the world while writing this book,
Friedman discovered just the opposite. Through globalization, cultures now move more fluidly in
a process he coins, “globalization of the local”. In an interview with Gary Wang, the founder of a
podcasting website, Toodou.com, Friedman learned that individuals had the ability to upload
content that touted individual cultures, in this instant Chinese, and was available for download
across the planet. Advances in technology have given individuals, regardless of location, the
ability to bring their culture with them. In addition to diversifying the flow of culture,
globalization has also diversified the flow of investment, giving companies the freedom to invest
in almost any country as they please. All four corners of the world are driving this process of
cultural and commercial globalization.

The flat world has turned over the traditional top-down model of power. Technology, notably the
Web, empowered billions of individuals across the globe, making truly anything possible. Like
the idea of open-sourcing, individuals now have the ability to come together in mass and reach
into markets never thought imaginable, giving rise to new, powerful forms of social
entrepreneurship and activism. Take for instance Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi who

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introduced microfinance to the world in 1976. Microfinance involves giving miniscule loans,
often times as little as ten dollars, to individuals to begin some type of business venture. With
73% percent living in dire poverty at the time of the loan, microfinance has evolved into a
strategy for millions to begin their own businesses and fight out of a life of poverty. Surprisingly,
at Grameen Bank, the bank founded by Yunus, the payback rate is 98%. Accorded to a Business
Week report in 2005, those receiving microfinance loans at the time was 92 million, up from 7.6
million in 1997. The flattening of the world has opened the gates of poverty, entrapping billions
across the globe, and given individuals the opportunity to improve their standard of living
significantly.

Despite the major benefits of globalization and the technology enabling this process, there are
downfalls. We have now entered what Friedman describes as “The Age of Interruption”. People
can be everywhere in the world except where they are physically. Rarely do you have
conversations with the person you sit next to on a bus, train or airplane. Technology has divided
us while it brings us together; the personal skills of individuals has declined as people are
focused on the noise of society, now primarily found in social media. Our mobilization as a global
community gives us the ability to connect easily and reinforce good or evil, creating an
“enormous echo effect” for thing constructive or destructive. Friedman fears the willingness of
individuals to enter the public sphere as anybody can write anything they choose and upload it
to the Web for all to see. It is the responsibility of society to use the freedom found in technology
for the greater good.

Geopolitics and the Flat World

Friedman admits the world is not really flat and there are many people who live outside the flat
world feeling disempowered and frustrated, often times leading to a disdain of the free world
and a desire to stop the advance of globalization. The line dividing the flat world and the unflat
world is the line of hope. Many countries and individuals inside countries only partly developed
see this line of hope, giving promise to their future development. However, there are many dark
areas of the world that see no hope at all. For instance, there are many who are too sick to see the
hope in globalization. Hundreds of millions live in areas ravaged by disease, such as villages in
rural India, China, Africa and Latin America. Not only is disease a heartbreaking global problem,
but it also prevents billions of people from participating in the global economy. Many of those
living in rural villages see the advancements in cities embracing globalization, leading to a feeling
of disempowerment. Although governments of various countries must take the initiative to put
the infrastructure in place to allow growth, NGO’s and multi-national corporations also have a
responsibility in alleviating this inequality. The most dangerous threat to globalization is the
terrorist cells located in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Spurred on by frustration and
humiliation, individuals who feel threatened by America and the spread of globalization find
refuge in terrorist communities, who seek to use globalization for the destruction of global
welfare. Lastly, globalization will inevitably lead to an energy shortage as countries all across the
world now demand more energy to take advantage of the new physical infrastructure and
opportunities for business granted to them. Never before has the world needed a massive
investment in renewable, clean energy to sustain globalization.

Two threats to globalization are nuclear war and terrorism. Friedman proposes the “Dell Theory
of Conflict Prevention,” which states that two countries involved in the same global supply chain

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will never fight a war with each other. Countries are less interested in “old-time” conflict, or war,
and more interested in “just-in-time” product and service completion. In the 2002 case of India
and Pakistan, the theory proved itself. Although the “Dell Theory” only had an effect on an
outraged India at the time, many global corporations, such as GE, Avis, Delta and British Airways,
communicated to Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee their fear of India going to war and he
subsequently toned down his rhetoric, ending any possibility of war.

Conclusion: Imagination

Critical to the successful advancement of the free world is more people imagining the
opportunities presented on 11/9, the day the Berlin Wall came down, as opposed to those who
imagine a world in fear of another 9/11. With new opportunities, challenges and partners come
new dangers. Through taking a risk of breaking down barriers of entry and exit in the United
States, we introduce the world to the freedom and liberty experienced in our country. Although
many seek to destroy these liberating values, the desire for freedom and liberty is innate in every
individual and can only win in the end.

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