Cape more connected than some may think

Cape Girardeau can seem insulated and self-sufficient, a mostly peaceful, mostly homogenous Midwestern town people move to or stay in because of the excellent quality of life it has to offer.

Its exotic name can belie its geography: Cape Girardeau is the only inland cape in the United States.

But now more than ever, this city -- and all of Southeast Missouri -- is strongly connected to the rest of the world. Not a burg on Earth can afford to be insulated anymore.

The word is "globalization" and it describes the increasingly stronger connections between all parts of the globe economically, socially and politically.

Americans have been criticized for being interested only in their own nation and own well-being. That observation wasn't entirely unfounded. But we have changed of late, particularly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. It opened many eyes to the fact that our relationships with other nations and peoples, and the way they perceive the U.S., is ever so important.

It is making us look around a little more and take note of our local connections to the rest of the globe.

What do we see? Positive relationships that should make Cape Girardeau area residents excited about the future.

They begin on the most personal of levels. Nail technicians at one manicure shop are from Vietnam by way of St. Louis. A man who started his own computer company is from Turkey. He came here to attend Southeast Missouri State University.

There are three Mexican restaurants in Cape Girardeau alone. There are several Asian restaurants -- Chinese and Thai. A Lebanese couple serves Middle Eastern cuisine.

Our residents receive medical care from doctors who moved to the area from overseas.

And the list goes on.

Some relationships are far more complicated but equally healthy. There are foreign-owned industries in the area that together employ thousands.

Other industries import raw materials from abroad and turn them into goods bound for foreign ports.

The Southeast Missourian is examining globalization in an occasional series of stories subtitled "Our place in the world." It began in April with a piece on the people who have come to the area from other countries to open businesses and make better lives for themselves. It continues Sunday with an examination of area industries and their global connections.

As the series advances, readers will no doubt learn that Cape Girardeau is more plugged into the rest of the world than one might initially believe.