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The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century Audio CD – Unabridged, July 24, 2007

by Thomas L. Friedman (Author), Oliver Wyman (Reader)

4.3 990 ratings

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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?

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"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)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan Audio; Unabridged edition (July 24, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1427201765
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1427201768
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.28 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.18 x 2.69 x 6.06 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,052,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,332 in Globalization & Politics
- #8,457 in Human Geography (Books)
- #40,688 in Books on CD

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4.3 990 ratings

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Thomas L. Friedman

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Thomas L. Friedman has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work with The New York Times, where he serves as the foreign affairs columnist. Read by everyone from small-business owners to President Obama, Hot, Flat, and Crowded was an international bestseller in hardcover. Friedman is also the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989), The Lexus and the Olive Tree (1999), Longitudes and Attitudes (2002), and The World is Flat (2005). He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Alejandro A. Reyes

Well researched, good social analysis, and some sound conclusions.

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2009

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"In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears -- and that is our problem." What a great line! It really hits home as it expresses a major problem in the U.S. that makes us less competitive with the emerging markets and economies of India and China.

Friedman is certainly a great writer and I so appreciate well-written prose. I read the book in 2005 when it was released after watching Charlie Rose interview him on PBS. The interview was fascinating. The book is incredibly well-researched while being very well-articulated. That is a winning combination for me!

He certainly seems to have his finger on the pulse of international matters. I suppose that's why he got three Pulitzer prizes for distinguished commentary and his work with the NY Times as the foreign affairs columnist is held in high regard. He's won two Overseas Press Club Awards and the National Book Award. Not a bad list of accolades and I can see why. This is the only work of his that I've read and it is one of the best researched and well-thought out books of the literally thousands that I've read in various subjects from the Humanities to the Sciences. His reporting is concise while being detailed where it needs to be and when it is detailed he knows how to express it well so as not to bore the reader. He can be punchy at times which adds his own flare to things while expressing a sense of humanity and a commitment to furthering it. We could debate his strategies for doing so, as I would in certain aspects of globalization (which he very much support), but at least he brings an intellectual rigor and a journalistic integrity to the table that makes dining with him a pleasure. His discussion of context toward the end of the book is brilliant.

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Aban Babur Usmani

flatenning but biased

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2008

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The World is Flat - Thomas Friedman
"What else but sensationalism could you expect from an American Journalist" My friend commented when I told him I was on a most sensational book by New York Times' Thomas Friedman. I thank my friend and my kids favorite 4th Grade teacher Michael Citrino to have recommended "The World is Flat" which has introduced me to a rapidly flattening world, of which I am a part, oblivious of the changes around me.
In this book Mr. Friedman as an investigative journalist starts telling the history from the 11/9fall of the Berlin Wall, and walks his reader through today. To keep pace with the rapid scientific development in the 20th century, and to afford production, we desperately needed to control costs. Its simplest way, but impossible to achieve in the post world war era, was to have a world based market. It was after the fall of the Berlin wall that India moved towards capitalism and China followed suit and then the newly liberated Russian states. Accompanying the fall of the socialist economic system came the information highway spanning the world, crossing the oceans & deserts connecting practically anybody with every body. These change have changed the way the world lives because more than 70% of world lives on this side of the world.
With the latest IT connectivity an essentially untapped, technically educated cheap, labor resource of East has become accessible to the west, without binds of visas and travel needs, through outsourcing. When we talk of outsourcing it is not only data management, accounting or medical transcription but live call customer care centers & help lines for computer companies, telecom giants, Airlines booking and baggage claims to after hour emergency radiological reporting of MRI and CT scans just to name a few. As I look at things the new millennium America reaches farther out on the globe, than the British East India Company of the last century, without looking ugly.
Mr. Friedman effectively also establishes that Americans looking at outsourcing negatively are wrong. People used to live under socialism, make excellent honey bees at work and it is the Americans who need to improve their adaptability to the new job requirements, of the better connected world, if they wish to continue being the queen bees. If they continue to be the innovators they can capitalize on the newly created high salaried jobs and the overall living standard is bound to improve, rather than deteriorate in USA, as publicized by some.
This outsourcing is not only about financial benefits but is affecting a canvas much bigger. China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, Hungary, Mexico and India along many others have gotten together as partners of the world IT industry. Now they have to balance positive material gains of peace to results of negative emotional outbursts. Can one believe that the outsourced U.S. business to India played a part in averting the 2002 India Pakistan war? Obviously in the flat world if a political leader tries to sell the need of nuclear or military deterrence to his nation, he is calling a lame bluff.
In this great book Mr. Friedman tells us about so many visible flatteners of the world that one has to believe. These days a country's financial viability is calculated if it is a Mc Donald country or not. Interestingly while UN is failing to improve and protect the world ecology, McDonalds has succeeded in pushing its suppliers the world over to change to eco-friendly food production and recycling policies. How Wall Mart is educating and sharing technology with its suppliers, again the world over and innovatively cutting cost and stream lining its delivery and distribution networks using "IT" is a different theme. UPS silently becoming "the friendly neighborhood courier" is another eye opener. Now it is UPS men who fix Toshiba laptops helping Toshiba improve its customer relations fixing an undependable after sales service system . How UPS has helped trouble shoot the distribution network for Ford's fixing its dealer relations is mind boggling. Now it not only handles Ford's distribution but also advises on Ford on production line priorities. UPS backs up every shopkeeper of Amazon and e-bay. E-bay and Amazon.coms in their turn have allowed the common world citizen (not only a US citizen) to fulfill the dream of trying luck at business without forsaking a stable job. Through e-marketing small entrepreneurs can develop personal outlets with a world wide customer base. The investment requirement is minimal, at which even in the third world no body can imagine to start any business.
The story of Steve Jobs is of extreme perseverance commanding extreme success. He has rewritten history regaining the position of CEO of his brainchild "Apple" creating media giants like Pixar en-route. How Rolls Royce Rolls has survived, not stopping being the car maker for the filthy rich but becoming an intelligent engine provider for the aviation industry, helping airlines and travelers save millions of dollars and work hours describes the will to play big game encashing the goodwill attached to it. Jordanian Ghandoor's readiness to accept the challenge of developing an Arab World courier and changing it into "Aramex" growing big enough to threaten the long established leaders in courier industry proves that the flat world is not only to benefit the first world rich but anyone who has the guts to tackle issues upfront.
Jet Blue and South West Airlines innovative CEO has substituted outsourcing with home sourcing empowering American housewives improving national productivity rather than banking on foreign workforce. Financing Bengali housewives Prof Younus has challenged modern capitalistic banking with his micro credit banking. Against the norms, working without lot of paperwork or collaterals this professor of economics is turning around millions of dollars, in small loans, with a 98% recovery rate from people who have no credit history but are credit worthy.
The development story of Mr. Friedman's own Dell Inspiron laptop as it could possibly involve many countries and multiple suppliers from each country providing each part is foretells a romantic future. In the world of Dell its only quality that matters and each anonymous chip and bit is as good as long its packed in a Dell. One can hope that all members of the human race, as long as they are packed in the same packing by one standard retailer, be one day accepted similarly, which of the flat world is a logical outcome. We shouldn't be rejected because of our sex, race or religion. If we can fit under the lid of God's quality seal we should be accepted as quality.
Thomas's description of the un-flat world, where he uses a not so remote village in the Indian south, is poetic. He carries his reader on a passionate journey "these children at four and five don't know what it is to have a drink of clean water...used to drinking filthy gutter water, if they are lucky to have a gutter nearby", "India is shining okay for glossy magazines but if you go just outside Bangalore...female infanticide and crime are rising", "middle and upper classes are rising but the seven hundred million who are left behind...the only thing that shines for them is the sun, and it is hot and unbearable and too many of them die of heat stroke." "The only "mouse" these kids have ever encountered is not the one that sits next to the computer but the real thing."
Thomas is an ardent believer in the freedom offered by the democratic capitalism of America and is intrigued by the way it is being accepted all over the world. Rightly worried he describes how the flat world is not only benefitting by teaming cheap labor with better income opportunities but the communication highway is also freely available and being used by the negative forces. It is scary to know with what ease fanatics in the flat world can not only open bank accounts, transfer funds internationally, enter flying schools but if they wish to, even rent 747 aircrafts.
Talking about this un-flattening effect I feel Mr. Friedman falters. He mentions the abuse of internet & media to spread rumors of Jews not going to work at WTC on 9/11 but misses to mention the unflattering effects of fabricated video clips displayed by CNN of Arab's celebrating the 9/11's disaster. Jews absence from WTC is being investigated by FBI but CNN has accepted running old reels of some Arab festivity. Probably Tom is just as human as any of us and his religious affiliations need to be given room. Discussing the plight of Muslims be it in India or Palestine to me he seems shortsighted stuck with many misconceptions. To him Muslim's irrational behaviors stems from the lost dominance they enjoyed over earth centuries ago, which again according to him, they consider their divine right. As a Muslim I would reiterate that we do believe that the best social & financial setup for the world is Islam but one very different from that being practiced by most of Muslim rulers and preached by most religious pundits of the day. The Holy Quran tells us that unjust and incompetent rulers will be replaced with able and fair rulers and we appreciate that for one reason or another Muslim leadership of today are not quality material and have justly been replaced by God's will.
Tom considers the humiliation of being stripped at the check points as a stimulant force behind the suicide bombings by Palestinian youth and refuses to register the effects of Israeli tanks following and bombing hideouts of kids hurling stones at them. Pitching in I would share what few days back a Palestinian colleague at a medical meet told me. His dad experienced severe Angina few days back and when they tried to rush him to the hospital there were some 3 checkpoints where after standing in the lines for over two hours the old man instructed his children to drive him home where he could die in the arms of his sister. Incidences like this, not infrequent in Palestine, justify more extreme expression of frustration rather than any personal humiliation.
Mr. Friedman considers India an example of democracy where all have equal rights, job & business opportunities but he is unaware that Indian minorities bowed to forceful alienation of Goa, Hyderabad, Junagarh etc in addition to Kashmir soon after deaths of Gandhi and Jinnah. Mr. Friedman considers Indian minorities and women empowered and liberated but his best evidence is having viewed an Ex-Bollywood queen thrashing a prayer leader of Delhi on TV. He probably doesn't know that Muslims make more than 33%of Indian population but only 2-3 Muslims get to the legislative council. The offices given to Muslims, Sikhs & Christians, in my opinion, are ceremonial and nothing more than eye wash.
My friends ask me how do I compare The World is Flat to my other recently read favorite " Three cups of tea" by Greg Mortenson. Both are about the flat world but are very different. Friedman talks about the flat world but Greg is making the world flat. He is providing education to kids, especially girls, declared doomed by the mountain gods in the most distant& difficult to access northern areas of Pakistan. Greg not only arranges finances and constructs schools but actually has helped construct bridges over impossible to cross mountainous ravines to take schools to disconnected areas of the Himalayas. To me Greg Mortenson is a history creator without a hint of racism but Friedman is a story teller who writes with passion, investigates with zeal but fails to mask his prejudices. I think Thomas Friedman should understand that something "on" CNN or Fox or printed in The New York times, has a very short life while a history book is expected to live at least as long as history.
Then I asked this question to myself "Do I like the flat world?" Definitely, most certainly, but I am not too sure if Thomas's flat world is here to last. The passion with which Greg is flattening the world, has roots. The flattening described by Tom is being built out of necessity. Bill & Malissa Gates foundation's fight against Malaria and attempts to make the World more live able are positive phenomenon but I wish we saw more of these connecting the rich and poor. I feel the capitalistic west is reaching out to the un-resourceful east to cut costs only and everybody in east, awed by the benefits of material gains is competing to get whatever size of pie they can get. Once this stops happening i.e. when East becomes mindful of its old values and the west gets to appreciates valueless ness of material gains, which probably is beginning to happen, then what?
"It takes to be an exceptionally good journalist to keep your sensory system on high alert for 600+ pages" was my reply to my friend and I am sure readers of this review will agree with me and definitely so if they get hold of "The world is flat" which will not let go of them till they finish it.

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Rasih Bensan

Adapt to the digitizing world, grab the opportunities or perish

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2008

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Thomas Friedman explains very clearly with many examples from throughout the world how in recent years the advances in digitization, internet and communication technology have been empowering the individual, creating globalization at an individual level, but also creating risks of unemployment for people who do not realize what is happening and fail to educate themselves to adapt to these transformations.

In contrast with many futurology books that predict how the world and our lives will be transformed in the future, The World is Flat talks about not some distant future but about what has already been happening in recent history, today and the likely future trends. Yet as he explains many people are still not aware of what is happening although they may significantly be affected by it. Thomas Friedman uses the analogy " the flattening of the world " for the ongoing transformation of the relationships between people ; business, consumption, politics, economy and educational relationships both at domestic and international levels are being rearranged such that the vertical hierarchy that has been the characteristic of these relationships for centuries are flattening out. This is not a conspiracy nor a deliberate policy of any government or any organization. It is the inevitable consequence of the advances in technology, particularly digital communication technology.

This book titled The World Is Flat explains many things some of which we may perhaps already know, but it puts them all together and makes the unaware individual aware of the meaning of the changes taking place around him/ her at a breathtaking pace, what the individual, the businesses, governments around the world must do to seize the arising opportunities, minimize and manage the resulting threats. Thomas Friedman also explains how a great part of the populations in the backward regions of the world are left out of this process that he calls the flattening of the world. In fact, he lists this exclusion of the great masses from this process as one of the threats to the continuability of the process : he does not take the continuation of the flatening process for granted ; according to the author there are several major risks that could slow down or even completely stop the world flattening process for good ; 1) if a nuclear war breaks out anywhere in the world such as between India and Pakistan or North Korea and Japan 2 ) if a big terrorist attack similar to the one made onto the USA on September 11th 2000 occurs again 3 ) the continuation of exclusion of major backward populations around the world from the world flattening / globalization at individual level. Because such catastrophic events would cause countries to set up protective and permanent barriers against each other terminating globalization and flattening trends.

According to the author among the world flattening processes that have been going on for several years are the outsourcing of many jobs that are suitable to be digitized and electronically transmitted to anywhere in the world where they can be performed more cheaply and efficiently than locally. Until recently, people had to migrate to many countries to get various jobs. While that process still continues many jobs that can be transmitted digitally and electronially now go to the people ( are outsourced ) whereever in the world they maybe instead of people going to the jobs. This creates high paying job opportunities for people who are wise and prepared to take advantage of this and unemployment for people who want to continue holding on in the old way to their jobs which have been digitized and shipped to somewhere on the globe. The individual may be at bay from this risk by acquiring the necessary skills and being the recepient of the outsourced job that previously was performed within a company or by specializing in a skill that is not digitizable and transmittable electronically such as being a famous artist etc. People had better educate themselves in the proper way to adapt and seize the opprtunities or be victims of these transformations.

Another world flattenning event is the new power of the individual to upload articles, videos etc. on the internet and thereby assert his/her personal contribution as never before possible. An example he gives is what I am doing right now ; uploading my review of the book the World is Flat onto the Amazon website for many potential customers like you to read. In the beginning individuals used the internet to download only. Recently it has become a two way process ; uploading and downloading. So what ? well this is creating opportunities for the individual as never before. Please read the details from the book, otherwise I would have to write the whole book here. As examples to these that Friedman gives are the websites such as Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, Youtube ; the video sharing website, Amazon ; where I am currently sharing with you my opinion about a book I purchased and read ; ebay the auction trade website etc. I am surprised however that he does not mention Limewire ; the file sharing website and freely downloadable software on the internet through which people can download, upload and share many songs etc. I know he can not talk about everything but Limewire is no less significant than the examples he gives.

Another criticism I have is that too much, about 80 % of Thomas Friedman's examples and explanations are from India. He does talk about what is happening in many countries but India dominates too much of his book. No doubt he knows a lot about India and what is happening there affects both India and the world but still I think the effect of India on the world is exaggerated.

I am also uncomfortable with the title of the book and the analogy : The World is Flat. The main theme of the book as explained above is the transformation of the many aspects of the human relationships due to the advances in digital communication technology, the opportunities and risks thereby arising, what must be done at individual and governmental levels around the world to exploit the opportunities and manage the risks, how the educational system especially in the USA must be reformed to prepare the individual and the society to these opportunities and risks. I see no need to label these transformations as a " flattenning of the world ". OK vertical hierarchies in the work world may become more horizontal as a result but still the main idea could have been explained under a much more appropriate heading.

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Akshata Ballal

Awesome

Reviewed in India on July 19, 2023

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Great book !!

Amazon Customer

Too old

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2020

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The book was not clean. It's too old and papers were already turned into yellowish colour

César Zarco

Every one should read this book.

Reviewed in Mexico on June 4, 2019

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This is a very good book about que 21st century, is like a resumen of all what have happen in last 50 years, I personally enjoy a whole lot by reading it. Also, the kindle version is a completely delightful way of reading it, mostly because of its dark mode and the capability to change the font and the letter size.

mario ramirez

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on February 26, 2018

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just as described.. almost new...

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ALLISON LUIZ

O mundo é plano

Reviewed in Brazil on September 30, 2014

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O livro traz excelente reflexão sobre como a tecnologia aproximou as pessoas, as empresas e, principalmente, o conhecimento. O autor faz uso de suas próprias experiências para desenvolver o tema.

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The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century Audio CD – Unabridged, July 24, 2007

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