Selective Globalization Syndrome: "David Gross tries to start a meme:



David Gross: If the world is flat, capital, goods and services can go wherever they want. But last week, the process of cross-border economic integration suffered the same fate as foolish mortals who would defy Newtonian physics: it crashed to earth. The furious fight over whether several port terminals in the United States should be owned by a company based in Dubai was resolved uncharacteristically and abruptly on Thursday. DP World, owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates, announced it would transfer the American operations of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation, the British company it is in the process of acquiring.

During the port debate, opponents warned darkly of the perils of Arab control of vital industry in the United States, and advocates warned, equally darkly, of the perils of alienating foreign investors. But the maelstrom over maritime services is not the first heated exchange on the way globalization appears to pit national economic interests against national security.

Last summer, anguished protests stopped the Chinese oil company Cnooc from acquiring United States-based Unocal, even though Unocal slakes only a tiny fraction of America's oil thirst. Indeed, the Dubai controversy is merely the latest manifestation of a new condition afflicting politicians, policymakers and o"