Nearly two decades ago, Thomas Friedman came up with his “Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention”. No two countries that had McDonald’srestaurants would go to war. The idea suited the heady post-cold war 1990s when people thought humanity would turn to post-ideological goals, like ending hunger. It offered the prospect of ‘homo economicus’ replacing its appetite for war with a Big Mac and fries. Alas, war is now back on the menu and McDonald’s is in trouble. Could the age of globalisation be going into reverse?
將近20年前，托馬斯?弗里德曼(Thomas Friedman)提出了“預防沖突的金色拱門理論”(Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention)，認為任何兩個開設了麥當勞(McDonald’s)門店的國家都不會彼此開戰。這個理論適用于冷戰結束后令人陶醉的1990年代，那時人們認為，人類將轉而追求后意識形態目標，比如消除饑餓。它給出了一種“經濟人”前景——人類將用巨無霸(Big Mac)和炸薯條取代對戰爭的欲望。可惜，戰爭如今又回到了菜單上，麥當勞也遇到了麻煩。全球化時代會發生逆轉嗎？