28 | THE WORLD DEMANDS A NEW MAP
in that situation is to be investing far more in their other cities — and companies should consider doing the same . Investing in second-tier , and to a lesser extent , third-tier megacities that demonstrate potential can reward corporates with access to new markets and newly created centers for growth as they emerge .
7 . Geopolitics
Greater connectivity between countries and regions can help foster more peaceful environments and as a result , stronger , more stable business climates .
Connectivity between cities has the potential to make the world a more peaceful place . Countries that have less stake in the system also have less to lose in disturbing it . If we look at regions of the world with dense relations across borders , we see more trade , more investment and more stability .
As one of the most obvious examples , industrial integration kicked off a process that gave rise to today ’ s ( relatively ) peaceful European Union . Conversely , you can see that Russia is the least connected of the major powers in the international system , which goes a long way towards explaining the tensions surrounding the country ’ s relationship with several nations in the West and other parts of the world today .
For its part , in North America , the lines that matter most on the map are not the US-Canada border or the US-Mexico border , but the dense network of roads , railways , pipelines , electricity grids and even water canals that are forming an integrated North American union . North America needs more connections , not more walls .
But , the real promise of connectivity lies in the postcolonial world — all those regions where borders have historically been the most arbitrary and where generations of leaders have had hostile relations with each other . In post-colonial countries , new leaders have emerged with a desire to set old differences aside . Let ’ s take Southeast Asia , where high-speed rail networks are planned to connect Bangkok to Singapore and trade corridors from Vietnam to Myanmar . Now this region of 600 million people coordinates its agricultural resources and its industrial output . It is evolving into what I call a Pax Asiana , a peace among Southeast Asian nations .
A similar phenomenon is underway in East Africa , where a half dozen countries are investing in railways and multimodal corridors so that landlocked countries can get their goods to market . They , too , are evolving into a Pax Africana .
One region we know could especially use this kind of thinking is the Middle East . In fact , the nearly 400 million people of the Arab world are almost entirely urbanized . In general , as societies and as cities , they are either water rich or water poor , energy rich or energy poor . The only way to correct these mismatches is not through more wars or the drawing of more borders , but through the development of greater connectivity , including the creation of key infrastructure such as pipelines and water canals .
Where peaceful cross-border relations and strong economic ties are fostered , promising new business opportunities that transcend sovereign frontiers are likely to emerge . Where such ties and amiable relations are not nurtured , opportunity will be limited to individual countries , or even to specific cities .
EMERGING MARKETS BUSINESS FIRST QUARTER 2017 ISSUE NO . 2