Despite its daily appearance in the media, official pronouncements, and publications of all sorts, globalization is a poorly defined concept. Globalization is usually defined in economic and financial terms such as foreign investments, trade, income flows, industrial development, employment, and the production of value added. Yet cultural, political, demographic, and other forces that receive less attention, because they are beset with difficulties of precise definition and measurement, also drive globalization.

Because it is nearly impossible to weigh all the various components of the globalization process at once, this study limits its focus to three major questions. First, what have the different national industries contributed to the globalization process, and how has this affected the rankings of both actively and passively participating national economies? Second, considering the trillions of dollars spent on foreign direct investments as a main driver of the world's economic integration, how significant have these investments been to the world's output of products and services, commonly measured in terms of gross domestic product? Finally, what are the political implications of America's recently developed neo-conservative doctrine of the new world order or the New American Century on globalization's future?