This paper offers a critical review of Kenichi Ohmae's 1990 book The Borderless World: Power and Strategy in the Interlinked Economy. The reviewer evaluates Ohmae's central thesis — that globalization is beneficial, national borders are increasingly irrelevant, and governments should reduce their economic intervention — by examining specific arguments, terminology, and chapters throughout the book. While acknowledging moments of genuine insight, particularly on branding and value addition, the reviewer challenges Ohmae's assumptions about declining governmental power, his use of both trite and poorly defined concepts, and his tendency to presuppose reader agreement rather than persuade.
The paper demonstrates evaluative synthesis: the reviewer does not merely summarize Ohmae's arguments but actively tests them against real-world context (e.g., government involvement in financial markets following the book's publication) and internal logic (e.g., questioning how governments can focus solely on job creation without broader economic involvement). This moves the review beyond description toward genuine critical analysis.
The review opens by introducing the author and the book's stated purpose, then interrogates Ohmae's preface claim about declining governmental power. Subsequent paragraphs address the book's central thesis, its weaker conceptual moments, and its ambiguous terminology before concluding with recognition of the book's strongest passages on branding and a final overall judgment. The structure follows a roughly chronological path through the book while weaving in critical commentary throughout.
Kenichi Ohmae is a business consultant and the author of various books, including The Borderless World: Power and Strategy in the Interlinked Economy, which appeared in 1990 and deals with the nature of business and the economy in this era of rapid globalization. The main purpose of the book, according to Ohmae, is to illustrate the benefits of globalization by highlighting the role played by multinationals in creating and distributing choices. This purpose should make the book interesting enough for readers to read beyond the preface — after all, who doesn't want to know if globalization truly has something positive to offer?
With so much negative press surrounding globalization, it genuinely deserves some positive commentary, and Ohmae undertakes this task. Whether he succeeds, however, is a matter of individual interpretation and perception. For some, Ohmae is an expert whose views should be valued. For others — including this reviewer — Ohmae often adopts the role of a smug consultant who assumes that each of his readers shares his views and his negative image of governmental intervention.
At one point in the preface, for example, the author introduces an original term — the Interlinked Economy — for the three powerful economies of the USA, Japan, and Europe, and declares that these economies, along with some growing Asian economies, have together become such a powerful force that "it has swallowed most consumers and corporations, made traditional national borders almost disappear, and pushed bureaucrats, politicians, and the military toward the status of declining industries" (p. xi). Is that really so? Ohmae seems to assume that his readers share this view, but governments — especially those with strong fiscal policies — remain quite powerful, and in some countries they exercise excessive control over the regulation of financial markets. Taking one good look at recent governmental involvement in various economies, including that of the United States, it is difficult to agree that government, bureaucrats, and the military have become a "declining industry."
Throughout the book, Ohmae puts forward some highly original ideas alongside some completely clichéd concepts, but presents both with such conviction that the reader cannot help but initially agree with him. It takes time to digest each concept, assess its validity, weigh its pros and cons, and then decide whether it was actually sound to begin with. All of these concepts, however, revolve around one central thesis: globalization is good, national borders are no longer important, and therefore governments should stop interfering and allow the global economy to strengthen on its own.
Ohmae maintains that global corporations have two important concerns — country and currency: "Most companies have to move more deeply into the countries where they seek to neutralize the impact of currency as well as the possibilities of protectionism" (p. 9). While global firms do their job, he argues, governments must focus on their sole concern: the creation of jobs. This is true to a certain extent, but even if we accept that the only objective of governments is job creation, this would automatically lead to involvement in other areas, including production and labor movement. It is difficult to see how a government could focus solely on job creation without becoming entangled in other areas of business and the broader economy.
Near the end of the book, Ohmae wraps up his argument and declares — without giving his readers a chance to form their own opinion — that "No matter what doomsayers claim, we have a right to be optimistic that interdependence will provide a new means for assuring international security" (p. 204). For Ohmae, globalization has everything good to offer and presents no inherent problems. Throughout the book, he does not try to persuade the reader of the validity of his arguments so much as carelessly assume that the reader already holds the same beliefs, shares his disdain for governmental intervention, and matches his enthusiasm for the emergence of a borderless world. This presumptive approach is ultimately the book's greatest weakness, and it prevents The Borderless World from achieving the persuasive impact its subject matter deserves.
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