Assessing globalization’s true impact

Joseph S. Nye Jr. and John D. Donahue of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government have examined all aspects of the globalization phenomenon in order to separate the facts from the hype. Among their findings: • Globalization is helping to increase real incomes throughout the world, with new jobs being created in poorer countries as new technologies create more dynamic local economies, but some poor countries lack the governance structures necessary to take advantage of these benefits. • Authoritarian regimes, like that of the Chinese Communist Party which has embrace economic globalization, face new challenges to their power as they struggle to disentangle the Western technology from the democratic culture that gave it birth.