Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim, in his new book, The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.

What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.) Friedman tells his eye-opening story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns will know well, and also with a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. His book is an excellent place to begin. --Tom Nissley

Where Were You When the World Went Flat?

Thomas L. Friedman's reporter's curiosity and his ability to recognize the patterns behind the most complex global developments have made him one of the most entertaining and authoritative sources for information about the wider world we live in, both as the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times and as the author of landmark books like From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree. They also make him an endlessly fascinating conversation partner, and we'd happily have peppered him with questions about The World Is Flat for hours. Read our interview to learn why there's almost no one from Washington, D.C., listed in the index of a book about the global economy, and what his one-plank platform for president would be. (Hint: his bumper stickers would say, "Can You Hear Me Now?")

The Essential Tom Friedman

From Beirut to Jerusalem

The Lexus and the Olive Tree

Longitudes and Attitudes

More on Globalization and Development

China, Inc. by Ted Fishman	Three Billion New Capitalists by Clyde Prestowitz	The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs
Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz	The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli	The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto

Sid Scott, MBA

Wow. Tom Friedman has hit the mark with this insightful and very entertaining observation of how the world has recently changed (past few years) and is changing because of changing technology. These changes have affected and will continue to affect equality of nations, global and local economics, competition, career opportunities and just about everything. This book is a must read for anyone who expects and needs to understand global communication and commerce. I could not put it down.

Very interesting, but incomplete.

This is a fascinating book and Tom Friedman manages to distill globalization into something that the rest of us can understand - no small feat!

But, two complaints:

1) Friedman tells good, fun, interesting, illuminating stories... but he tells oceans of them. I heard him speak about before I read it -- and, after reading it, I realized that everything I needed to know I'd heard in the speech. There's no call for the almost-500 pages of this book; Freidman knows how to be clear and wry in only a few words (he does it all the time in the New York Times) -- why not here?

2) Friedman is almost entirely uncritical of globalization. In his eyes, it's an exciting new adventure -- and he makes a compelling argument for that point of view. But we all know that globalization has its dark side, too: American workers losing jobs to foreign competition, indecent standards of living and wholesale lack of worker protections in emerging capitalist countries, etc. I'd like to see Friedman turn his interest to those questions, too.

Dreamy Eyed Gaze at Globalization

At over 460 pages `The World Is Flat' is a mammoth analysis of Globalization. The book is decidedly pro-Globalization but if you can get past the first 400 pages of cheerleading Mr. Friedman manages to touch on some of the problems of the flattening world. Through most of the book the reader is taken on a starry eyed voyage of multinational corporations as they strive towards the Capitalists dream of raising stock values and making mountains of profits while improving the lives of workers. It's a win-win situation for everyone who jumps aboard the Globalization express as wealthy countries are freed from the tedium of mundane work while third world employees see their standard of living rise. Those who resist (see Middle East) are left fuming over their increasing irrelevancy. Globalization is such a blessing that by intertwining countries through corporate supply chains it literally makes war a thing of the past.

At about the 400 page mark the book starts to address the potential problems of Globalization. Friedman mentions a seemingly inevitable energy crisis as India and China start approaching an American standard of living and oil usage. He vaguely mentions the problem with the United States touting Democracy while imposing its will on people who have zero say in U.S. policy. He mentions the flashpoint when Globalization encroaches on areas like the Middle East that resist assimilation. He even briefly hints that Middle Easterners may have a point when they accuse the United States of propping up repressive governments. George W. Bush is taken to task for launching an ill advised war and changing the chief U.S. export from hope to fear.

What Thomas Friedman doesn't mention is the darkest area of Globalization where multinational corporations use their influence to pressure the U.S. into forcing regime changes and political assassinations as in South America. The companies in `The World is Flat' have such a benevolence about them you can't imagine them forcibly dispossessing indigenous people of their land or encouraging our government to support brutal regimes for the sake of stability and profit.

Friedman takes a bit of time gushing over Wal-Mart's groundbreaking efficiency and although he takes Wal-Mart to task for driving down salaries and reducing benefits he gives ex-CEO David Glass the last word. Glass admits that Wal-Mart definitely has some improvements to make as far as giving back to the community but then blames manufacturers for leaving the states as if demanding minimal to no profit margins on suppliers doesn't force companies to leave. Glass says, "One of my concerns is that, with the manufacturing out of this country, one day we'll all be selling hamburgers to each other". Indeed.

Mr. Friedman makes a great point that may end up being prophetic when he states that xenophobic social conservatives and protectionist labor form a more natural union in the face of inexorable globalization while fiscal conservatives and coastal liberals may form a free trade counterbalance. I wouldn't be surprised if we see this kind of political restructuring in the next decade or two.