No peace even after a Big Mac meal
The decision by McDonald’s to exit Russia undermines the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention.
Add BT as a preferred source
McDonald’s decision to leave Russia permanently after more than 30 years recalls in ironic magnitude the fast food giant’s decision to open its first restaurant in Moscow in 1990, in a symbolic thaw in the Cold War that occurred even before the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Now, in the wake of the war in Ukraine, another home of McDonald’s, the American gastronomic icon’s departure from Russia highlights the questionable assertion made by the American journalist Thomas Friedman in what he called the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention. (Those are the arches of the McDonald’s logo.)
According to Friedman, no two countries that both possessed McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each had got its McDonald’s. That is because McDonald’s operates only in countries that possess a middle class which is prosperous and extensive enough to support its franchises.
TRENDING NOW
When every phone becomes a satellite phone, what happens to Asia’s telcos?
Too little, too late? Manila’s billion-dollar bid to ignite its sputtering EV industry
Japan Home closing outlets; staff say Valu$ taking over operations
Timah Partners lands S$60 million facility from lenders including UOB, RHB
