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THE KIMCHI MATTERS:
GLOBAL BUSINESS AND LOCAL REALITIES IN A CRISIS-DRIVEN WORLD
Agate Publishing, Inc.
Evanston, Illinois
October, 2003
"The Banker" Reviews THE KIMCHI MATTERS (PDF)
Learn more about THE KIMCHI MATTERS on the book's web site
For the uninitiated, kimchi is the unofficial Korean national dish: unassuming cabbage soaked in chilies, garlic, and ginger until pungent, fiery, and blood-red in color. To be sure, kimchi has its charms; but for today, at least, it remains a very local dish. Today, almost everyone eats Big Macs (121 countries at last count), which is unprecedented, amazing, revolutionary: in short, the "big story" of globalization. But one lesson of September 11 is that the small stories, of national politics, regional economics, and local struggles, cannot be overlooked. Everyone eats Big Macs; but the kimchi matters.
In The Kimchi Matters, Zonis shows that globalization (and events like the Iraq War) makes understanding the political economies of distant countries more important than ever. Globalization hype has obscured a few basic truths- that political stability and economic growth are usually determined on the local level and that they are most affected by local institutions, leadership, corruption, and other such factors. Time and again, investors and foreign policymakers have been hurt because they failed to understand the kimchi- the unique local dynamics at work in a particular country or region. Investors and corporations can use the principles of this book to analyze the kimchi. But everyone with a stake in international peace, prosperity, and stability should take heed.
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