IndiaPost.com - Nayan Chanda discusses his book on globalization

NEW YORK: Veteran journalist and author Nayan Chanda's widely acclaimed book entitled "Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers and Warriors Shaped Globalization" was introduced by Consul General Neelam Deo at a function held at the Consulate in New York on November 20.

Congratulated Chanda on his outstanding book, Deo said the book gives an unusual perspective on human history as a process of globalization, tracing steps of the earliest traders to the present day world of internet connectivity.

Chanda's lucid narrative style, sprinkled with interesting stories and anecdotes, and coupled with expert analysis of our interconnectedness, make for fascinating reading, she said. Nayan Chanda is the Director of Publications and the Editor of YaleGlobal Online Magazine at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. In a power-point presentation on the theme of his book, Chanda explained how human beings migrated from Africa and dispersed throughout the world and found countless ways and reasons to reconnect with each other.

He spoke about the role of traders, preachers, adventurers and warriors in shaping the world, and their motives which were usually self-seeking but had the overall effect of drawing us closer to each other. Chanda's presentation highlighted the fact that globalization is just a new word to describe a process that has been going on for centuries.

However, in recent years, the dynamics of the process have changed qualitatively. It could be said that NGOs are the new preachers and traders use much more sophisticated technologies to communicate.

The difference is the increased visibility and impact of these processes thanks to modern technology and much faster forms of communication which make globalization appear so dramatic and sometimes controversial, he said. In the discussion that followed, Chanda touched upon several issues emanating from globalization including its impact on environment; growing inequities in income & other indicators; increasing interdependence; debate on negative implications of globalization; role of NGOs & governments; consequences of trying to limit globalization; teaching globalization at university level; and so on.

The lively and involved discussion with the audience brought forth the immense interest in globalization, a process of ever-growing interconnectedness and interdependence that began thousands of years ago; continues to this day with increasing speed and ease; and will inevitably continue to shape the course of the world in future.

The discussion was led by L. Gordon Crovitz, publisher Wall Street Journal. Prior to joining Yale, Chanda worked at the Hong Kong-based magazine the Far Eastern Economic Review for 30 years, as its editor, editor-at-large and correspondent. In 1989-90 Chanda was a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. From 1990-1992 Chanda was editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, published from New York. He is the author of 'Brother Enemy:

The War After the War' and co-author of over a dozen books on Asian politics, security and foreign policy including 'Soldiers and Stability in Southeast Asia' and 'The Political Economy of Foreign Policy In Southeast Asia'. His most recent book is 'The Age of Terror: America and the World After September 11', which he co-edited with Strobe Talbott.

He is the recipient of the Shorenstein Award for 2005. The Award honors a journalist not only for a distinguished body of work, but also for the particular way it has helped an American audience understand the complexities of Asia.

It is presented jointly by the Shorenstein Forum at Stanford and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University. He is a frequent contributor to the opinion page of the International Herald Tribune and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.