The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

What would historians consider to be the most significant development in the world twenty years from now, when they reach the chapter on Y2K to March 2004 in their global history? the conflict in Iraq and the 9/11 assaults on the World Trade Center? Or the confluence of events and technology that made it possible for China, India, and a host of other nations to join the global manufacturing and services supply chain, causing a wealth explosion in the middle classes of the two largest countries in the world and giving them a significant new stake in the success of globalization? And has the world become too tiny and too fast for people and their political institutions to adapt in a stable way, given that this flattening of the globe forces us to run faster in order to remain in one place?Award-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman demystifies the brave new world for readers in this fascinating new book, enabling them to make sense of the sometimes confusing global picture that is playing out in front of them. Friedman, who has a unique capacity to explain complicated international policy and economic matters, describes how the globe began to flatten at the beginning of the twenty-first century, what that implies for many nations, businesses, communities, and people, and how society and governments can and must adapt.