Publisher's Synopsis
Why is Japan, a country that looked economicaly invincible a decade ago, stagnating, while long-moribund Ireland booms? What qualities will ensure a country's dominance in the new millennium? In this work, "Wall Street Journal" writer G. Pascal Zachary provides a roadmap to the new civilization arising out of sweeping shifts in the world economy. Through examples of individuals and institutions, he reveals that the key "secrets to success" for economic, political and cultural dominance do not lie in a nation's size, military strength or natural resources, but in its openness to absorbing values and people from around the world. Roaming the globe, Zachary shows how the rise of new forms of identity and migration are helping to determine who will win and lose in the next century.;Zachary's thesis is about individuals, as well as countries. In this tour of a new global civilization, he introduces a gallery of characters who possess an intriguing mix of "roots" and "wings". Strong enough to know who they are, nevertheless ceaselessly becoming someone else - and in the process, bestowing the gifts of creativity and social harmony on the cities and states they call home.
