28-years-old Abdullah Abdul-Gawad restrained his fear of this 1,300-foot, 220,000-ton steel behemoth, in front of which his excavator was as small as an ant, and tried to focus on digging the sand and mud.
 
This picture of a digger saving mammoth Ever Given tells a parable of the plight of globalization.
 
From 23 to 29 March, stranded Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal. Over 400 ships were delayed and an estimated $9.6bn of goods each day was held up. Ripple effect expanded to exacerbate the problems of the “already slowly melting down” global supply chain. Some blame this calamity on excessive globalization. “As we become more interdependent, we are even more subject to the fragilities that arise, and they are always unpredictable,” warned Ian Goldin, a professor of globalization at Oxford University.
 
The Suez Canal blockage is indeed a warning. But rather than reminding us to curb the “excessive”, it urges us to search for more efficient solutions to the accidents arising from the process of globalization. No matter how global collaboration is improved, there will always be new challenges. In this rescue operation, what triggers the alarm is the contradiction between the gigantic globalization system and the inefficient crisis response capability.
 
The tiny excavator, struggling with disproportionate force, can be seen as a symbol of the SCA (Suez Canal Authority), a state-owned corporation responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Suez Canal. Without the help from Netherlands, Italy, Japan and other countries, relying on SCA alone, the global logistics may have to re-route. Faced with an emergency also, in 2018, thanks to its excellent globalized crisis management, Ford evacuated 19 machines, including one weighing 44 tons, from its burning Michigan factory, and airlifted them to UK, where production restarted after only 30 hours.
 
If a player with limited capability occupies the key position, catastrophe can be expected. To make matters more complicated, such key positions are often linked to national sovereignty. SCA's position, for example, came from the sovereignty of the canal that Gamal Abdel Nasser had won and defended at the cost of blood and lives.
 
Therefore, refloating globalization requires further breakthroughs to the Westphalian Paradigm. That means we need to reform the international collaboration mechanism on pivotal facilities. Instead of worrying about the excesses of globalization, how to make it deeper, wider and more resilient should be the concern.
 
When Abdullah Abdul-Gawad drove the Komatsu excavator, he did not realize his efforts would not only help to clear the sand, but would also transform the barren land behind him, “where the minarets of the unimposing mosques were the tallest structures around.”
 
 
 
 
Works Cited
 
Mia Jankowicz. “The guy driving the Suez Canal excavator didn't like becoming a meme star but said the attention made him work harder.” Business Insider, Apr 7, 2021
 
Mary-Ann Russon. “The cost of the Suez Canal blockage.” BBC, Mar 29, 2021
 
Pippa Stevens. “Another attempt to clear ship blocking Suez Canal fails as economic impact mounts.” CNBC, Mar 26 2021
 
Peter S. Goodman. “In Suez Canal, Stuck Ship Is a Warning About Excessive Globalization.” The New York Times, March 26, 2021
 
David Pilling, Harry Dempsey and Peter Campbell in London and Kana Inagaki in Tokyo. “New Suez crisis: a global economy creaking under the strain.” Financial Times, Mar 27 2021
 
Vivan Yee. “‘A Very Big Problem.’ Giant Ship in the Suez Remains Stuck.” The New York Times, Published March 27, 2021Updated March 29, 2021