The World is Flat

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

Initially released in 2005 , and updated and expanded ' for its release in 2006 , The World is Flat ' by Thomas L . Friedman has already sold out around 1 .5 million copies as of February of this year . The book is an attempt to analyze the development of globalization while paying special regards to the 21st century timeframe (Thompson 2006

The book as a read is very similar to Friedman 's regular New York Times columns . The magic of narration , as if the world

unfolds through Friedman 's eyes , is there . Readers meet the people Friedman meets and travel the places he travels . Seemingly , it was able to transcend the technical and scholarly realm of economics , anthropology , etc . to reach out to the readers who are probably laymen

In the book , Friedman elucidates how a union of three factors had resulted to Globalization 3 .0 . First among these three factors is the progress of devices which enabled the world to collaborate , such as that of web based tools and other diverse technologies . Next is the commonness of these technologies in business establishments and even in houses . Finally , the opening of the markets and the people of China India and Eastern Europe to the global market was viewed to have had a large impact since in theory , these countries ' two billion people created an added 2 billion prospective consumers and competitors in the global scene (Schulman

The central theme of Friedman 's book is his concept of flattening According to Friedman , the world market is being revolutionized rapidly by technology , and in effect , old barriers are broken down to engage every recess of the world in the process of globalization . Through these changes , everyone is empowered . Further , Friedman argues that the forces that cause these world changes are inevitable . Therefore , no society in its right elements should defy these changes . Either they choose adaptation , or be left behind

Moreover , Friedman used the term flat ' to refer to being interconnected ' By the wink of an eye , billions of people all over the world can transact businesses through the wires ' And while this is no news in itself , Friedman points out that a certain Globalization 3 .0 ' is happening and is worth noting . That is , the forces acting behind the changes in world markets are now empowered individuals , and not merely major corporations or giant trade organizations . By individuals , Friedman pertains to desktop freelancers and innovative startups worldwide who are highly competitive and potentially successful . This is true not only for low-earning information and manufacturing labor but also for the highest-end design and research work (Nissley

Throughout all these arguments and narrations of his realizations about globalization and flattening , Friedman has displayed his flair for business reporting . Magically , he was able to transform reports about Dell , Wal-Mart , JetBlue and UPS into highly amusing chronicles while still drawing up a relation to the basic theme that he wants to get across in the book . Fareed...