Book Review

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
By Thomas L. Friedman

It was a feeling of satisfaction when The World Is Flat appeared on the reading list for the Cal Poly business study tour of China. I have been a fan of Thomas Friedman for the past few years. Whether his words appear in The New York Times or on the television show Meet the Press, I am always interested in what he has to say.

In The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman writes about the state of globalization in the modern world and, in his opinion, the ten key events that are responsible for the evolution of this age. Some of these ten events include the symbolic end of communism with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall; the emergence of open-sourcing; and the rise of offshoring. Intermixed in the chapters are anecdotes and interviews that support Friedman’s analysis.

Based on his books The Lexus and the Olive Tree and The World Is Flat, Friedman identifies three significant eras of globalization ranging from 1492 to current times. These three periods are as follows: Globalization 1.0 has countries globalizing, Globalization 2.0 has companies globalizing, and finally, the focus of the book, Globalization 3.0 has individuals globalizing for the first time in history.

According to Friedman, Globalization 3.0 began around the year 2000 with the key events he describes as “flatteners” ushering in this new era. In Globalization 3.0, the ten flatteners come together and people start doing business horizontally. At the time of this horizontal collaboration, many emerging economies opened up to the outside world. These events produced political and technological changes that flattened the world and evened the playing field for countries with emerging economies. The citizens of China, Latin America, India, and Eastern Europe accessed technology and resources that allowed them to compete in the global market without leaving their native countries. The fact that these citizens remain in their native countries to compete in the flat world is evolutionary in itself.

The second half of the book examines the responses of America, developing countries, companies, and geopolitics in Globalization 3.0. Friedman posits that the United States benefits if it participates in practices such as supply-chaining and outsourcing in this new global era and suffers economically if it does not participate in the practices in Globalization 3.0. He highlights the strengths of past and current business practices that make America strong economically and recommends that our country maintain its free trade principles, laissez faire economic attitude, flexible labor laws and strong intellectual property protection. There is a chapter dedicated to highlighting the consequences from the decline of Americans earning engineering and science degrees and the increase of foreign students earning degrees in these fields. In this chapter, a crucial point is made when America, in its response to 9/11, shuts out foreign students and misses the opportunity to take advantage of their intellectual aptitude. He goes on to point out the declining performances of American students in math and science and the consequences. Friedman concludes his commentary on America with recommendations on how it can remain competitive in the new era of globalization.

The chapter devoted to developing countries focuses on the advantages of an open society and the dangers of not adapting to the economic environment of the evolving globalization. This openness in society encourages economic vitality that is crucial to the sustainability of a country.

The chapter on companies in Globalization 3.0 evolves in true Friedman-like fashion with rules for success. The same message for developing countries is prevalent in this chapter, too. Companies must learn to adapt to the changing economic conditions or else they will fail. Horizontal collaboration is vital to the livelihoods of the companies of the modern world.

The final section on geopolitics discusses the power of a middle class on the stability of a country and some of the negative consequences of Globalization 3.0. Among the negative consequences are people who live in places where they do not have access to the prosperity of this era and the boon of Globalization 3.0 for terrorists. Another negative effect is the possibility of a global energy shortage because of more people entering the economic boom.


The purpose of The World Is Flat is to provide insight into the changing world as a result of technology. Thomas Friedman scratches the surface and allows the readers to begin thinking about the current state of global economics. I applaud his efforts and enthusiasm on the subject. I found his analysis of the Middle East to be enlightening because it explains some of the methods organizations like al-Qaeda use in their recruitment and propaganda. I especially enjoyed his pointing out the negative consequences of the United States response to 9/11. There is danger in the United States getting away from the practices that made it a superpower. Our country’s greatness will decline if our citizens forget that we are the land of opportunity and this means for anybody who lives or comes to our country. However, I feel the greatest contribution of the book is the plan for dealing with the flattening of the world. I believe companies and nations, especially the Unites States, can benefit from his recommendations and I hope America’s general population and politicians are paying attention.

One weakness I noticed was that Friedman failed to interview any common folks for the book. There is a CEO, a chief technology officer, and even a former president that are included in the chapters, but no farmers or factory workers. My point is that the people mentioned will have different experiences and perspectives and there is much to learn from their diverse views.

The World Is Flat contributes to the knowledge base of international business and economics. It serves as an introduction to modern globalization that compels the reader to start thinking about the issues and topics of this new era. College students majoring in business, political science, economics, and anyone who is interested in world affairs would benefit from reading Friedman’s book. I would recommend this book to my friends and colleagues and I believe this was an appropriate book to appear on a reading list for MBA students.