Globalization - History becomes an organic whole

"Now in earlier times the world's history had consisted, so to speak, of a series of unrelated episodes, the origins and results of each being as widely separated as their localities, but from this point onwards history becomes an organic whole: the affairs of Italy and Africa are connected with those of Asia and of Greece, and all events bear a relationship and contribute to a single end."

The above seems like a contemporary quote - maybe someone like Tom Friedman writing about Globalization. It may shock you to know, however, that this quote is from Polybius (who died in 118 B.C.) writing about the rise of Rome.

Seems like Globalization has been going on for a long time. Yet some of our people and policymakers behave as if they are insulated from the rest of the world - thus the unilateralism that we see so often today.

{for your reference, I picked up this quote from the prologue of "Among the Believers" by V.S. Naipaul}