The New Global Road Map

Introduction

When I wrote my first book on globalization, Redefining Global Strategy, in 2007, the prevailing sense among executives was that companies could safely bet on globalization continuing to increase. As I finish this book a decade later, some business leaders, such as Alibaba founder Jack Ma, still believe that more globalization is inevitable.¹ But most of the talk about globalization has turned pessimistic.

Some of the negativity reflects, of course, recent shocks, most notably Brexit, as in the United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union, and the election of Donald Trump as US president. (I refer to these two events jointly as Brump.) But the mood had already soured before then. In May 2016, a month before the Brexit vote, ...