Three Faces of Globalization

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong meets U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington today to sign the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. But the two leaders will also discuss three trends in globalization that affect both countries.

The most serious of these trends exhibits behavior that, in other circumstances, might almost be compared to a multinational company. Funding and training comes from one country, management from another, support from nearby countries, and local inputs provide the rest.

But what makes this example so sinister is that this time the funding and training was from al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The strategy came from Indonesia. Logistics and planning took place in Malaysia and the Philippines, and Singapore terror cells provided the local planning and (literally) foot soldiers. The trend is the globalization of terror networks and the plan was to destroy the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Singapore with truck bombs. The plot was uncovered in Dec. 2001.

Take another multinational trend that started in 2002. Research and development took place in rural China. Marketing took advantage of Hong Kong's international connections. One of the key test markets was Singapore. But the activity in this instance is the disease of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which by this point has spread around the world from its humble origins in China.

The third trend is the internationalization of production and marketing -- the traditional meaning of "globalization." International trade is growing more slowly now than in the 1990s, but the trend continues upward, as Singapore demonstrates. Be it a U.S. chemical company shipping polyethylene to Korea, or hard drives manufactured for Dell Computers in Singapore, or American fruits, vegetables, and meat products sold in the island state -- we think very little of producing on one side of the world for customers on the other side. This trend is not really new. Singapore's fortunes have always been tied to the international marketplace. Increasingly, this is true for the U.S. as well.

Terrorism, pandemics, and commerce are the three faces of globalization. All thrive on open borders, convenient travel, and international communication. The first two we are working to shut down, and the third we need more of. Whether it is the deliberate malevolence of terrorism, the unconscious spread of a disease, or the purposeful expansion of commerce, the U.S. -- and international societies like Singapore -- are going to have to come to terms with the perils and benefits of globalization.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has established good working relations with many of its counterpart agencies in Asia. In fact, the U.S. embassy in Singapore has more law enforcement professionals than State Department officers. They work with their Singapore counterparts to make sure that the open flow of goods, people and finances cannot be used by terrorist groups.

Similarly, as the SARS crises broke out, the Center for Disease Control sent out specialists to coordinate their studies with Singapore health officials. Americans can learn from Singapore's health professionals, epidemiologists and statisticians in working out the best ways of beating this disease.

Which takes us back to the Bush-Goh meeting. The two leaders will be signing a bilateral Free Trade Agreement, Washington's first in Asia. That is a good step in itself and also sends an important signal about American commitment to continue to play a constructive role in Asia.

The U.S. will work with friends such as Singapore to tackle challenges such as terrorism and plagues. And improved economic ties might prove to be one of the best cards to play in building indigenous strengths and cross-border cooperation. The bad guys are working together across borders. The good guys better do so too.