Is the world really "flat"?...

In his book,"The world is flat" ,Thomas Friedman, argues that the world has become "flat" considering huge amount of changes that cyber technologies have offered to people, their cultures, and international relations of the nations...
Are we really going that way? I mean thinking of the subject, do we really live and interact in a world which has been flattened?

Nobody can deny the huge international business relations of the countries in the recent years which have become the main source of income for both industrial and developed countries...concepts of international marketing, globalization, international strategic management and many more are now being discussed and taught in the schools more than ever ...

The question is that, in the flat world which we live in, have the cultures and beliefs also been flattened?

For sure one of the main points of success in this international market is the concept of "Cross Cultural Management" dealing with the little issues of cultural differences and making a way through success out of them.
My question is not this, but, what has happened to the individuals' cultures as the result of living in this flat world.

One of the main results of business globalization, eventually, has been the creation of one global culture among the coming generations...Today, the way that a young Chinese thinks is very similar to his peers in India, Europe and the United States...
I am not going to argue that if this is a positive thing or not...
Ofcourse this has several positive points that people are getting more related and more friends all over the world crossing the borders of cultural differences to come to a unique world culture based on the unique human beings' values.

The question is, aiming for this international global culture, are we neglecting some of the very beautiful delicate positive values of our own culture to merge ourselves with this cultural mainstream?
In this global culture, is there any room for the cultures of every nation or they should just simply adjust their culture according to the values that "big" dominant cultures either good or evil bring to the table?

If we really live in the "flat" world, is it really possible that one follows the international culture of this world and yet be proud of having his own identity?
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I am going to continue with these questions or concerns, I would be more than happy to have your sharings and ideas in this regard...
[Photo: Courtesy of "Kosoof" blog]