Thomas Friedman's most recent column, entitled "Is Google God?", engages in quite a bit of technological breathlessness before he gets to his main point:
While we may be emotionally distancing ourselves from the world, the world is getting more integrated. That means that what people think of us, as Americans, will matter more, not less. Because people outside America will be able to build alliances more efficiently in the world we are entering and they will be able to reach out and touch us--whether with computer viruses or anthrax recipes downloaded from the Internet--more than ever. . . .
[I]nfo-tech, left to its own devices, will make it so much easier for small groups to build their own little island kingdoms. And their island kingdoms, which may not seem important or potent now, will be able to touch us more, not less.
Read the column here.