The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization is a 1999 book by Thomas L. Friedman that posits that the world is currently undergoing two struggles: the drive for prosperity and development, symbolized by the Lexus LS, and the desire to retain identity and traditions, symbolized by the olive tree.
Narrative
Friedman explains "globalization" by recounting stories of his actual experiences in interfacing with many of the global movers and shakers. He proposes that "globalization is not simply a trend or fad but is, rather, an international system. It is the system that has replaced the old Cold War system, and, like that Cold War System, globalization has its own rules and logic that today directly or indirectly influence the politics, environment, geopolitics and economics of virtually every country in the world." The "Big Idea" in The Lexus and the Olive Tree is found on page 223 where Friedman explains that: "if you can't see the world, and you can't see the interactions that are shaping the world, you surely cannot strategize about the world." He states that "you need a strategy for how to choose prosperity for your country or company."
No two countries that both had McDonald's had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald's.
He supported that observation, as a theory, by stating that when a country has reached an economic development where it has a middle class strong enough to support a McDonald's network, it would become a "McDonald's country", and will not be interested in fighting wars anymore. Friedman's point is that due to globalization, countries that have made strong economic ties with one another have too much to lose to ever go to war with one another. Regardless of whether the statement is true, the conclusions to be drawn are unclear. The global expansion of McDonald's restaurants is a relatively recent phenomenon when put into the context of the history of warfare, and, with a few notable exceptions, has proceeded into relatively stable markets. Shortly after the book was published, NATO bombed Yugoslavia. On the first day of the bombing, McDonald's restaurants in Belgrade were demolished by the Serbian people and were rebuilt only after the bombing ended. In the 2000 edition of the book, Friedman argued that this exception proved the rule: the war ended quickly, he argued, partly because the Serbian population did not want to lose their place in a global system "symbolised by McDonald's". Critics have pointed to other conflicts as counterexamples, depending on what one considers "a war":
In 1999, India and Pakistan fought a war over Kashmir, known as the Kargil War. Both countries had McDonald's restaurants. Although the war was not fought in all possible theatres, both countries mobilised their military all along their common borders and both countries made threats involving their nuclear capabilities.
In the 2000 edition of the book, Friedman evaded criticism of his theory as follows: He also explains how globalization can cause Brazilification—the loss of the middle class and increase in income gap—of countries impacted by the trend. Brazilification is a neologism included in Douglas Coupland's 1991 book . The expression was used in a similar way by the American writerMichael Lind as "Brazilianisation of America" in his book The Next American Nation and by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck as "Brasilianisierung des Westens" in his book Schöne neue Arbeitswelt. In 2005, Friedman said that he framed this theory in terms of McDonald's Golden Arches "with tongue slightly in cheek". In his 2005 book The World is Flat he offered an updated theory he labelled the Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention. The instagram account @makebigmacsnotwar picked up on Friedman's theory. The instagrammer takes pictures of McDonald's outlets at locations around the world and investigates whether these locations follow the theory's concept.
