strategy+business gives its list of Best Business Books 2009 and five of them offer insights into the changing topology of global trade and influence.

The best books on globalization this year offer insights into three directional trends that are changing the topology of global trade and influence: the deepening of regional ties across emerging markets; the continuing rise of powerful new global players; and, finally, the intractability of risk factors inherent in emerging markets and regional networks, and how best to analyze them.

Get ready to feed your global mindset and chart your business course. The five featured are:

1. The New Silk Road: How a Rising Arab World Is Turning Away from the West and Rediscovering China

2. Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation

3. India’s Global Powerhouses: How They Are Taking On the World

4. The Fat Tail: The Power of Political Knowledge for Strategic Investing

5. Riches among the Ruins: Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy (pictured above)

Always discovering something new and in this case, Encyclopedia of Small Business with a focus on globalization; basic but still interesting nonetheless.

Some people view globalization in positive terms, as a key force in promoting worldwide economic development. But others believe ...

More here.

Photo (unrelated): Eartha, The World's Largest Revolving and Rotating Globe

Two years old but worth a look (6:06 minutes). Make sure the volume is lowered on your computer before you view.

Carly Fiorina, former chief executive of Hewlett Packard, told some 2,300 members of the International Franchise Association yesterday in her keynote address at their annual convention being held in San Diego, that businesses, which she says have created two-thirds of jobs in the country, will lead the way to restore America’s faith in how business operates.

“If we’re going to get our economy working again, we have to pay attention on how to get people and small businesses to perform and prosper ... I think you are vital to the restoration of growth in our economy ... It is innovation and entrepreneurship that will lead us out of this economic crisis. Not big government, not big business, not big labor.”

Way back when in his "The World Is Flat" book, Thomas Friedman wrote about how technology and globalization have changed our lives forever.

Read more about her Carly's talk here.

Over at the OPEN Forum by American Express, I'm doing a blog series on internationalizing your company. Here's Part 2: Building Your Crack Export Team of what will become a 5-part series.

And the usual ... if you find it useful, say so. If not, let me know why. Many thanks.

The Harvard College Globalization Project (HCGP) is a student-run organization at Harvard College that intends to promote research and critical commentary on any and all topics related to globalization.

HCGP's work is performed exclusively by Harvard undergraduates, and it is published in a bi-annual review, each issue of which concentrates on an elected symposium topic.

Find out more here. They have a couple of country blogs worth checking out.

This looks like someone we should follow: Paul Krugman (pictured), the Princeton University scholar and New York Times columnist. He won the Nobel economic prize for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences praised Krugman for formulating a new theory to answer questions about free trade.

"What are the effects of free trade and globalization? What are the driving forces behind worldwide urbanization? Paul Krugman has formulated a new theory to answer these questions," the academy said in its citation.

"He has thereby integrated the previously disparate research fields of international trade and economic geography," it said.

Read more about Paul's background, at least as a New York Times columnist, here.