Since the end of the Cold War, political, business, and opinion leaders in the advanced industrial democracies have tended to accept as an article of faith that expanding cross-border flows of goods, capital, information, ideas, and people are inevitable, irreversible, and, for the most part, positive developments. It has been widely believed that globalization, the ever-closer integration of the world’s economies and societies, would lead to improvements in efficiency, rising levels of income and well-being in all nations, and a narrowing of the gap in living standards between rich and poor countries. These tendencies, in turn, would promote cross-cultural understanding, encourage the spread of liberal democratic norms and institutions, and enhance the prospects for international cooperation and peace. Even if these broader political benefits were not immediately forthcoming, it has still generally been assumed that the process of globalization would continue, driven forward by technological progress, market forces, the pursuit of profits, and the relentless logic of competition.1
