Technology

Some would say that improving technology has made our lives easier. Imagine [blank] your day would be like without the Internet, the automobile, or electricity. In The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman (2005) argues that technology is a dri force behindving globalization, while the other forces [blank] social change (social institutions, population, environment) play comparatively minor roles. He suggests that we can view globalization as occurring in three distinct periods. First, globalization was driven by military expansion, powered by horsepower and wind power. The countries best able [blank] take advantage of these power sources expanded the most, and exert control over the politics of the globe [blank] the late fifteenth century to around the year 1800. The second short period from approximately 1800 C.E. to 2000 C.E. consisting of a globalizing economy. Steam and rail power were the guiding forces of social change and globalization [blank] this period. Finally, Friedman brings us to the post-millennial era. In this period of globalization, change is driven [blank] technology, particularly the Internet.programmes.