Why ending the debate over something insignificant is significant.

The reason we write so adamantly about the port issue is that it could cause serious problems with foreign investors. We do not want to become France. This is not time to start talking about "patriotisme économique."

Protectionism is not in anyone's interests. We're not talking about free trade at all costs. We're talking about fair trade, especially with Arab countries who are a problem essentially because they are not a part of international trading webs:

Obviously, Iraq, Syria, south Lebannon, North Korea, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran are not part of any major global supply chains, all of them remain hot spots that could explode at any time and slow or reverse the flattening of the world.

Says Mr. Friedman. As we've said before, Arab nations need to be pulled into this system, and out of the oil driven, dictatorial, closed societies. Read the best of liberal economists -- Stiglitz, Sachs, Sen -- and you'd probably find the same answer.

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