David Forbes

Iíve never gotten why the term ìCassandra,î referring to the ancient Trojan prophetess who rightly warned about ìGreeks bearing gifts,î was considered a slur. Every now and again, someone will talk about a major, risky endeavor as potentially going horribly wrong, and conventional wisdom will shake its finger and dismiss them as ìa hysterical Cassandraî or some such.

This, of course, misses the point: Cassandra was gloomy. She was also right.
As is Amy Chua, author of the book ìWorld on Fireî (Doubleday, 338 pp. $26.00). A Yale law professor, Chua wondered exactly why the export of democracy and the free-market economy, which were supposed to lead to an era of unbridled peace and prosperity, have seemingly failed so badly.

So she traveled and researched relentlessly. The result is a book that is both a gripping read and right on target. More than once while reading this, I found myself muttering ìyes, yes, thatís exactly it.î

Chuaís basic argument is this:

Weíre fooling ourselves when we believe that free markets and democracy necessarily go hand-in-hand. History is with her on this and thereís a brutally long list stretching back to ancient times (the Romans were great traders and not very democratic at all) to prove her right.

On a more modern note, thereís a continuing trend of large companies working with dictators or oligarchs to get their way, routinely thwarting nascent democratic movements if it makes them a profit.

Inserted haphazardly into such an environment, in places with no middle class, no public education, etc., the newly opened markets often end up benefiting certain outside groups and certain powerful local figures ó and few others.

Then thereís democracy itself. In its raw form ó and suddenly bestowed upon people long oppressed or with few outlets ó it can often result in mass fundamentalist movements or mob violence. This becomes especially likely if that shiny ìfree marketî capitalism has suddenly made the local magnate wealthy beyond belief while leaving the average worker barely able to feed their family. Starving people arenít rational and raw democracy is one force among many (activist groups, legal codes, local governments) needed to make a functioning state.

Forget Germany or Japan after World War II, Chua asserts. Instead think of Weimar Germany, where runaway economies and sudden, crude democracy led to ... ah yes, the Nazi takeover (and World War II).

Hence those who equate globalization with the entire world looking like the U.S. need a rude awakening. Chua takes years of research to get to it, but her answer is simple: It just doesnít work.
Hence Russia, Iraq, Iran, Nepal. The list goes ever on.

She proves her point and she writes it devastatingly well. Thereís simply no other way to say it. There are a lot of political treatises on globalization out there. This is probably the best Iíve ever read.

Sheís not an isolationist, mind you, far from it. But she does see what anyone with any life experience should know: There are no cookie-cutter answers to the worldís problems.

Whatís more, while itís doubtless that technological, economic and cultural changes are making the world more globally connected, the form of that globalization is still very much up for grabs.

So what does Chua put forward instead? ìIt is difficult to see, in any event, how a little generosity and humanity could possibly hurt.î

Itís a start.
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David Forbes, who writes book reviews for the Daily Planet, may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Suggestions and comments are always welcome.