I apologize for simplifying so many debates and concepts. My objective is not to teach you everything you need to know about technology but, rather, to start a debate. I hope this will feel like a Chinese meal and leave you hungry to read more, which is why I included detailed endnotes.
It took four years of research to write this book. I began, and have almost completed, the manuscripts of three “serious” books as well as a variety of cases, articles, and chapters before writing this one. But I finally decided that I had to finish this book first, as an introduction to a more in-depth debate about science and the future of the nation-state. My agent, Barbara Rifkind, provided advice and support. She made this a reality by bringing the project to Random House, where an extraordinary editor, John Mahaney, guided the book.
Many people took a lot of time to educate me about various technologies and about how the world works. Harvard was an extraordinary venue. Those teaching and researching in the Center for International Affairs helped me understand what keeps countries together, and what tears them apart. Three people, Derek Bok, Jorge Domiguez, and Bob Putnam, started me on this adventure by allowing me to join an extraordinary group of CFIA Fellows (I am particularly indebted to Russ Howard, Derek Offer, Pete Bunce, Marta Lucía Ramírez, Imelda Cisneros, Diego Hidalgo, and Luis Fernando Ramírez). In South Korea, many people went out of their way to be helpful, particularly Professors Byung-Kook Kim and Young-Jin Kim, as well as Minister Dal Ho Chung. Stanley Kao, a patriot, taught me about surviving and thriving in Taiwan. Mahathir Mohamad and Noordim Sopiee taught me a lot about Malaysia and why things are not as easy as they look. Gloria Arroyo and Bobby Romulo did the same in the Philippines. Australia’s Phil Scanlan and Alan Carroll taught me to understand Asia better.
At the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, John Coatsworth, Steve Reifenberg, and June Erlick helped create a home instead of an office. Tim Stumph killed whole forests printing out version after version of book drafts. Special thanks to Professors John Womack, Marcelo Suarez Orozco, Wayne Cornelius, Abe Lowenthal, and Mala Htun. Professor Otto Solbrig, one of the world’s great scientists, provided encouragement, knowledge, and a home in Harvard’s biology labs. Of course, without Neil and Angelica Rudenstein, the center would not exist …
Five Harvard Business School professors were especially influential on my thinking and spent hours going over charts and ideas. Ray Goldberg, the father of agribusiness, taught me about hope, hard work, and constructive change … Bruce Scott about competitiveness, countries, and having the patience and talent to teach counterintuitive ideas … George Lodge about sailing, ideology, development, and kindness. Debra Spar always had a smile and encouragement as well as a sharp sense of how to improve arguments. And Jonathan West helped me conceive and launch the life-science project.
Joan Bok and Al Houston asked me to join the genetics advisory council of Harvard Medical School, which provided an extraordinary opportunity to learn from professors like Phil Leder, Connie Cepko, George Church, and Hidde Ploegh. Robin Blatt was kind to ask me to become a contributing editor of The Journal of Biolaw and Business.
Throughout Mexico and Latin America, many people taught me how to do things right and how to screw up a country. I thank both groups for valuable lessons. But I’ll mention only those who taught me that Mexico is and will remain a great country. Foremost, my father, Antonio Enriquez Savignac. Without him, there would be no Cancún, Ixtapa, Los Cabos, Loreto, or Huatulco. He exemplifies the ideals of this book—that one man, willing to learn and create, can make a huge difference to a country and improve the lives of millions. And that what counts is not what one says but one’s ability to execute. He was twice elected Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, and spent a decade building Cancún’s successors throughout the world.
Manuel Camacho and Marcelo Ebrard taught me courage—what it means to fight to keep a country together against all odds. We were able to stop a war in Chiapas. Many other Mexicans from various parties, schools, companies, and publications also taught me about what it takes to get ahead, to remain competitive against all odds: Adolfo Aguilar, Oscar Arguelles, Jorge Castañeda, Pedro Cerisola, Oscar Elizundia, Ramón Alberto Garza, Nacho Marván, Enrique Rangel, Rubén Ojeda, Jesús Silva Herzog, Luis Sanchez, José Sarukán, Julio Scherer, Leopoldo Solís, and Rene Solís.
A significant portion of the research and ideas contained in this book came from Rodrigo Martínez. Alison Sander always had time to teach me what she was finding as a successful entrepreneur and as the global forecaster at Boston Consulting Group, how to synthesize complex trends, and how to look at the world in a different way. Tom, Cynthia, Jay, John, and Ann Schneider provided ideas, edits, and support. Alan Stoga and David Quilter patiently questioned. Jonathan Slonim, Mary Schneider, Gaye Bok, and Antonio Enriquez Cabot revised the manuscript with a sharp pencil and a lot of laughs and a few tequilas. Paul Davis and Seed Partners make some of these ideas reality.
Some extraordinary men and women took the time to convince me about the primary importance of education and technology: Claire Fraser, Craig Venter, Jose Maria Figueres, Rod and Nancy Nichols, Timothy Ong, Al Gordon, Andrew Cabot, and especially David Rockefeller. His work with the Americas Society has pushed the private sector to get far more involved in education, an effort led by Peggy Dulaney, Roberto Paulo Cezar de Andrade, Fernando Romero, Patricia Cisneros, and Luisa Pulido. Matt Neville, Sam Bodman, and Ken Burnes shared their expertise on how to integrate research and business
For generations, my family have been wanderers, to and from America, Asia, and Europe. That the younger generations choose to strive is due to extraordinary leadership: John and Elizabeth Moors Cabot made the world better in embassy after embassy; Louie and Muffie Cabot led in business, politics, and thought; Jane Bradley is an example of what women can do; Lewis Cabot and Lisa Lyman reinforced the need to always look for beauty. Above all, John and Carroll Cabot quietly provided shelter, guidance, and example, in the process ensuring all the rest of us can take risks and strive. Thank you.
Finally, Diana, Nicolas, and Mary didn’t always understand why I would get up early, put on sweatpants, and head for the attic to build moats of paper and write day and night. It was hard to explain why I traveled so much, and why our house always seemed full of scientists, journalists, politicians, businessmen, and historians. They never lost their smile and humor when I called from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Chile, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, various parts of Europe, the United States, and Canada. Each of these countries and their extraordinary people taught me time and again how important it is to be a true epicurean … a citizen of the world.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 2001