Globalism Is Alive and Well

The quintessential postnational, transborder, free-trading CEO in the age of Trump.

- Monte Reel, Kae Inaue, John Lippert, Jie Ma, and Ania Nussbaum

Carlos Ghosn enters the building in the executive style, which is to say, through the roof.

The helicopter has traced an imprecise line above the Chao Phraya River, buzzing over Bangkok’s ancient temples and clotted highways before zeroing in on the Peninsula Bangkok hotel, where the bright green helipad seems to swim in the wavy heat. He hops out and is led down to the Paribatra Lounge, a 37th-floor oasis reserved exclusively for aerial check-ins. The décor is retro aeronautique, and the welcome drinks are cold, but to linger here would be to stray from the itinerary, so Ghosn (rhymes with “bone”) moves on. He’s whisked down to his room, where he’ll grab a quick lunch and slip on a fresh suit and tie. Then he’ll wend his way to a ground-floor conference room and the first item on the afternoon’s agenda: a Q&A session with several hundred Thai business school graduates.