Frothy Friedman.The Dr Phill of imperialist spin. http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=241904&group=webcast
Friedman attains the ultimate in honesty. He thinks that: "The most powerful agent pressuring other countries to open their markets for free trade and free investment is Uncle Sam, and America's global armed forces keep these markets and sea lanes open for this era of globalization..." (p.381). This Commentary could have ended at this point. What more can one expect? Yet, unfortunately, there is more.
The US maybe the "sole", "unique",etc superpower, but it is a benevolent superpower. "Sustainable globalization requires a stable power structure, and no country is more essential for this than the United States. All the Internet and other technologies... and all the wealth this is generating, are happening in a world stabilized by a BENIGN superpower, with its capital in Washington , D.C. .. The hidden hand of the market will never work without the hidden FIST." (p. 464 and again emphasis added).
"America truly is the ultimate benign hegemon and reluctant enforcer." (p.467).
Is Friedman naive, or what? No, Friedman is a professional, in the sense of the professional people (religious or secular) that make a living by pretending to "believe" all kinds of things.
As mentioned earlier Friedman states that globalization (i.e. Americanization) is inexorable. His book is saturated with this (tragic) idea of the inevitability of the victory of the US imperium. Here are some samples of these threatening dictums: - The Golden Straitjacket "is not always pretty or comfortable. But it's here and it's the only model on the rack this historical season." (p.105).
