The World Is Flat 3.0

Description

When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, what will they say was the most crucial development in the first few years of the twenty-first century? The attacks on the World Trade Center 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, creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world’s two biggest nations? And with this “flattening” of the globe, has the world gotten too small and too fast for human beings and their political systems to adjust in a stable manner?

Thomas L. Friedman is a three-time Pulitzer Prize—winner and the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem, winner of the National Book Award for nonfiction, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization, and Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family.

“Excellent…[This book’s] insight is true and deeply important… The metaphor of a flat world, used by Friedman to describe the next phase of globalization, is ingenious.” —Fareed Zakaria, The New York Times Book Review (cover review)“Captivating . . . an enthralling read. To his great credit, Friedman embraces much of his flat world’s complexity, and his reporting brings to vibrant life some beguiling characters and trends. . . . [The World is Flat] is also more lively, provocative, and sophisticated than the overwhelming bulk of foreign policy commentary these days. We’ve no real idea how the twenty-first century’s history will unfold, but this terrifically stimulating book will certainly inspire readers to start thinking it all through.” —Warren Bass, The Washington Post“No one today chronicles global shifts in simple and practical terms quite like Friedman. He plucks insights from his travels and the published press that can leave you spinning like a top. Or rather, a pancake.” —Clayton Jones, The Christian Science Monitor“Friedman . . . nicely sums up the explosion of digital-technology advances during the past fifteen years and places the phenomenon in its global context. . . . He never shrinks from the biggest problems and the thorniest issues.” —Paul Magnusson, BusinessWeek“[The World is Flat] is filled with the kind of close reporting and intimate yet accessible analysis that have been hard to come by. Add in Friedman’s winning first-person interjections and masterful use of strategic wonksterisms, and this book should end up on the front seats of quite a few Lexuses and SUVs of all stripes.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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