The world isn't flat, it's tilted.

• Position: Globalization

Across the country, a growing number of Americans fear that they could be replaced by someone from a developing country. Polls indicate that millions of citizens are preoccupied with the outsourcing of U.S. jobs and the threat of global economic competition. From boardrooms to classrooms to kitchen tables and water coolers, globalization has become a hot topic of discussion and debate.

Thomas Friedman's book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, asserts that the international economic playing field now is more level than it ever has been. As popular as the book may be, Friedman's theories on globalization have brought critics out in droves.

"The world isn't flat as a result of globalization," counters Peter Fingar, author of Extreme Competition: Innovation and the Great 21st Century Business Reformation. "The world is tilted in favor of a fierce new breed of competitors." These companies exploit 3,000,000,000 low-paid workers in China, India, and the former Soviet Union, countries that recently have adopted capitalism, he maintains.

"These fierce new competitors are ready to engage you, your company, and your kids in extreme competition. They play hardball and dominate their industries. They'll go to the ends of the Earth to employ factory workers for nine cents an hour and PhDs in science and technology for $20,000 a year. This global search for low-cost...