The process in and of itself had a flattening effect across societies... I take one part from the book "The world is flat" as below. The world became a better place to live in after the fall of Berlin wall, because each outbreak of freedom stimulates another outbreak, and that process in and of itself had a flatterning effect across societies, strengthening those below and weakening those above. I do not understand the part of "the process in and of itself". Please help me on this. Thank you very much!