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A MONTH ago Ahmed Ezz was one of the most powerful businesspeople in Egypt. He controlled about 40% of the country’s steel production, played a leading role in the ruling party and, most important of all, was a bosom buddy of Hosni Mubarak’s son and heir apparent, Gamal.
Today he is a has-been. Protesters have demonised him and torched his company headquarters. The old guard has dumped him as a liability. He is under investigation, his assets have been frozen and his right to travel has been restricted. Western companies that cultivated Mr Ezz wasted their time and money.
It was once regarded as axiomatic that globalisation would marginalise politics. Theodore Levitt, one of Harvard Business School’s leading thinkers, argued that “the Earth is round but, for most purposes, it’s sensible to treat it as flat”. Kenichi Ohmae, a Japanese business guru, published “The Borderless World” and “The End of the Nation State”. Giant companies such as IBM and Ford played down the importance of country managers in their efforts to create globally integrated behemoths.
The events in Egypt are a reminder of how foolish such “borderless” thinking can be. Dick Cheney once remarked, “The Good Lord didn’t see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States.” It might be added that the Good Lord did not see fit to put economic growth in equally desirable places. The corporate world is rightly excited by the pell-mell growth in emerging markets, but these are rife with political risks—weak legal systems, makeshift institutions, volatile cities and fragile regimes.

A. 어휘
ruling party 집권당. bosom 가슴, 마음. buddy 단짝, 동료.
heir 후계자, 상속인. heir apparent 명백한 후계자.
has-been 퇴물, 과거의 사람. demonise 악마로 취급하다.
torch 불태우다. headquarters 본부. dump 버리다.
liability 책임, 부채. cf. a liability 책임이 있는 사람(본문에서는 범법자).
assets 資産(자산). restrict 제한하다. cultivate 사육하다, 경작하다.
axiomatic 自明(자명)한, 격언적인. marginalise 무시하다, 사회에서 소외시키다.
guru 정신적 지도자, 敎父(교부). integrated 통합된.
behemoths 巨獸(거수), 거인. reminder 생각나게 하는 것.
Dick Cheney 미국의 前 부통령. regimes 정권.
desirable 바람직한. corporate world 기업계.
pell-mell 급속한, 亂雜(난잡)한, 혼란스러운. rife 유행하고 있는, 퍼져있는.
legal 법적인. makeshift 임시변통의, 急造(급조)된.
volatile 폭발하기 쉬운, 揮發性(휘발성)의, 불안한. fragile 깨지기 쉬운.