The American economy has recovered from a period of stagnation, but few believe that security--let alone unchallenged superiority--has returned. Other countries do not automatically follow American leadership on international matters; European allies pursued their own course on Bosnia, and China refused to cave in to US human rights requirements for retaining its most favored nation status. The most dynamic growth markets lie in other regions, regions that are unfamiliar territory to many American businesses. Some American companies face still formidable foreign competition. America's reputation for quality products has had to be reearned. Americas secondary schools are not the worlds best, while its outstanding colleges and universities are enrolling an increasing percentage of foreign students. Americas universalistic culture--from core curricula on campus to the English language in use commercially worldwide--is being challenged even on American shores by bilingual and multicultural movements.

Yet the United States is still the worlds most productive economy and most desirable market. As proof of that, increasing numbers of American businesses are owned by foreign companies, and foreign investment plays an ever larger role in the life of American communities. American popular music dominates the world, but five out of the top six record companies in the world featuring American music are owned by foreign corporations. Economically, the role of Americans has changed. Once primarily actors, they are now also being acted upon; once always initiators, they are now also recipients.

As I listen to Americans starting to come to terms with a changed place in the world, I can't help thinking of an image derived from male-female relationships. In her book The Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir wrote about what it means to be the "other" in a relationship in which one kind of person (the man) is always dominant. The dominant party assumes, almost unconsciously, that his way of thinking and being holds for everyone; he takes it all for granted. The "other," however, must become very attuned to the dominant person in order to sense his needs and wishes and accommodate them (or manipulate them). The "other" suppresses her own sense of self in order to learn to read the dominant person.

Americans, particularly American born white male business executives, are no longer the dominant parties whom everyone else must accommodate. In increasing numbers, they are taking on the role of the "other"--the ones who must learn how to accommodate or manipulate foreign bosses or read the signals sent by foreign partners whose collaboration is necessary to tap export markets or develop new ventures.

--from Kanter, Rosabeth. World Class: Thriving Locally in a Global Economy. Simon and Schuster, 1995.

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