> With the exception of Russia and Georgia, it's said that no two nations that have McDonald's have ever gone to war.
Well, I went to do a research on that. It's called "The Golden Arches Theory"[1], it was meant to be tone-in-cheek, but to rationalize on the idea that two countries who develop a middle-class and economic stability to make a McDonald's viable no longer have an interest on going into war to each other.
Of course, there are many exceptions, both before, immediately and long after that "theory" was written:
- The 1989 United States invasion of Panama
- In 1999, India and Pakistan fought a war over Kashmir, known as the Kargil War. Both countries had (and continue to have) McDonald's restaurants.
- The 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon, following hostilities ongoing since 1973, with South Lebanon occupied until May 2000. (McDonald's franchises were established in Israel and Lebanon in 1993 and 1998, respectively.) However, the Lebanese Armed Forces were not a party to the fighting, the Israel Defense Forces action being taken instead against the paramilitary group Hezbollah.
- The 2008 South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia.
- The 2014 Crimean crisis between Russia and Ukraine.
And even more amazing, there's an improved version of the theory:[2]
"The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention stipulates: No two countries that are both part of a major global supply chain, like Dell's, will ever fight a war against each other as long as they are both part of the same global supply chain."
That is that, as long as corporations have major supply chain operations in countries other than that corporation's home country, those countries will never engage in armed conflicts. This is because of the economic interdependence between nations that arises when a large corporation (such as Dell) has supply chain operations in multiple global locations and when developing nations (in which supply chain operations commonly take place) are reluctant to give up their newfound wealth.
But I doubt that updated version wouldn't fall short to prevent the exceptions listed above.
Well, I went to do a research on that. It's called "The Golden Arches Theory"[1], it was meant to be tone-in-cheek, but to rationalize on the idea that two countries who develop a middle-class and economic stability to make a McDonald's viable no longer have an interest on going into war to each other.
Of course, there are many exceptions, both before, immediately and long after that "theory" was written:
- The 1989 United States invasion of Panama
- In 1999, India and Pakistan fought a war over Kashmir, known as the Kargil War. Both countries had (and continue to have) McDonald's restaurants.
- The 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon, following hostilities ongoing since 1973, with South Lebanon occupied until May 2000. (McDonald's franchises were established in Israel and Lebanon in 1993 and 1998, respectively.) However, the Lebanese Armed Forces were not a party to the fighting, the Israel Defense Forces action being taken instead against the paramilitary group Hezbollah.
- The 2008 South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia.
- The 2014 Crimean crisis between Russia and Ukraine.
And even more amazing, there's an improved version of the theory:[2]
"The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention stipulates: No two countries that are both part of a major global supply chain, like Dell's, will ever fight a war against each other as long as they are both part of the same global supply chain."
That is that, as long as corporations have major supply chain operations in countries other than that corporation's home country, those countries will never engage in armed conflicts. This is because of the economic interdependence between nations that arises when a large corporation (such as Dell) has supply chain operations in multiple global locations and when developing nations (in which supply chain operations commonly take place) are reluctant to give up their newfound wealth.
But I doubt that updated version wouldn't fall short to prevent the exceptions listed above.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lexus_and_the_Olive_Tree#G...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Is_Flat#Dell_theory_...