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When scholars write the history of the world
twenty years from now and they come to the chapter "Y2K
to March 2004," what will they say was the most crucial
development? The attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of
technology and events that allowed India, China, and so
many other countries to become part of the global supply
chain for services and manufacturing, the global supply
chain for services and manufacturing, creating an explosion
of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest
nations and giving them a huge new stake in the success
of globalization? And with this "flattening" of
the globe, which requires us to run faster in order to stay
in place, has the world gotten too small and too fast for
human beings and their political systems to adjust in a
stable manner?
In his brilliant new book, the award-winning
New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman demystifies
this brave new world for readers, allowing them to make
sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before
their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex
foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman explains how
the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the
twenty-first century: what it means to countries, companies,
communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies
can, and must, adapt. The World Is Flat is a timely
and essential update on globalization, its successes and
discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected
journalists.
Thomas L. Friedman has won the Pulitzer
Prize three times for his work at The New York Times,
where he serves as the foreign affairs columnist. He is
the author of three bestselling books: From Beirut to
Jerusalem (FSG, 1989), winner of the National Book Award
for nonfiction and still considered the definitive work
on the Middle East; The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding
Globalization (FSG, 1999); and Longitudes and Attitudes:
Exploring the World After September 11 (FSG, 2002). He
lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family.
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