uot;When an economic or technological standard emerged and proved itself on the world stage, it was much more quickly adopted after the wall was out of the way. In Europe alone, the fall of the wall opened the way for the formation of the European Union and its expansion from fifteen to twenty-five countries" (Friedman 55). And someday, "rural China, India, and Africa" may grow into little regional European Unions to maximize their economic opportunities, drawing upon this model (Friedman 542).
             Almost simultaneously with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the World Wide Web created an international commerce and communications medium, which enabled companies to sell their merchandise cheaply internationally, to advertise all over the world, and for individuals to connect across borders and barriers of time and space. Brands once particular to a nation became known all over the world because of the expanded venues of advertising open to companies. The speed of goods and services available for consumers has expanded exponentially. Friedman even describes himself as behind the times, locked in what he calls Globalization 2.0, not Globalization 3.0, when, describing a journey on Southwest Airlines from Baltimore to Hartford, Connecticut he "stomped off, went through security, bought a Cinnabon, and glumly sat at the back of the B line, waiting to be herded on board so that I could hunt for space in the overhead bins" while he watched people who had printed out their boarding passes at home board the plane ahead of him (Friedman 201).
             ...