The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Globalized World in the Twenty-first Century [Hardcover]

The beginning of the book deals with how Friedman believed the world became 'flat' in the first place. He does this using his so called "10 Flatteners". These are world events ranging from the fall of the Berlin wall, to the emergence of the internet as a new medium of communication. He describes how in he feels that each of these '10 flatteners' had a major impact on the 'flattening' of the world. I feel that this part of the book is quite tedious to read, since much what Friedman states is just common knowledge. He doesn't charter any territory and anyone who follows the news once in a while will have heard of these ten 'flattening' forces.

The second part of the book is called "America and the Flat World". As you might have guessed this is about how America (and other Western countries) are affected by the 'flattening' of the world, and how they can take advantage of it. Firstly it describes the worrying trend that a lot of jobs previously done in the Western world can today be outsourced more cheaply and efficiently to countries such as China and India. Friedman, however, argues that this is not necessarily a bad thing because it frees up labour in these countries for more 'sophisticated' jobs. As long as people in the Western world keep upgrading their 'skills' through receiving a good education, and keep being innovative, new technologies will spark new jobs for them to do.

The third part of the book is how developing nations are affected by the 'flattening' world, and what measures they should take to get the most out of it. Friedman argues that this flattening of the world presents the developing world with a huge opportunity. Since the general costs of labour are so much lower there than in developed countries, labour intensive jobs will move from the developed countries to the developing countries. However, to take full advantage of this, Friedman believes that these countries will need to follow a 'transparent' policy. Investors will want to know where there money is going. This is why countries like China and India, with a relative transparent economy, have been such attractive places for investment and why some others have not.

The last part of the book is about how terrorists such as Bin Laden have been able to take advantage of the 'flat' world. With the use of the internet, it is very easy for them to transfer their message, and recruit other terrorist from all over the world. Friedman regards this as a possible threat for the 'flattening' of the world.

This book, as has been said by many other reviewers, touches on the effects globalization has on today's society. It does not really charter any new territory, and is simply a basic overview of how the world has changed in the last decade. However, I believe that this book still deserves 4 stars simply because the way in which it was written. It is written in a way which is very easy to understand and makes some fairly sophisticated economical concepts easy to comprehend for the average reader. The book is also full of examples of how individual businesses have been affected by globalization and what measures they have taken to get the most out of it, which is very interesting to read about. All in all, the book does exactly what it says on the cover. It gives "A Brief History of the Globalized World in the Twenty-first Century".

Let me describe his key points. Mr. Friedman begins by describing ten forces that were powerful in creating today's extreme business competition on a global scale (the fall of the Berlin Wall, advances in computer communications and software, reductions in cost to connect organizations together by computer-directed instructions, new ways of partnering and the rise of portable, real-time information access over the Internet). He then describes a triple convergence that has accelerated change: World-wide, real-time, flexible collaboration that allows more horizontal ways to provide value; companies learning how to use the new technologies to create new types of organizations, services and structures; and the entry of several billion new people into global business competition.

Mr. Friedman goes on to describe the implications of the 2004 world for the future. He sees a need for more education, greater specialization, learning new skills and moving up the ladder of adding more value . . . or a job, a company or a country will see its position degraded or even replaced by a more effective competitor elsewhere. For the United States, he sees a "quiet crisis" as other nations outrace its citizens for advanced education and work harder to compete. Today's lead can soon become tomorrow's obsolescence. In the meantime, consumers will benefit from cheaper imported goods and offshore services.

For developing countries, the challenge is greater. They were behind to start with. Mexico finds itself being displaced by China in serving the U.S. market, even though Mexico is right next door. The key task is to free local entrepreneurs to operate efficiently and to put good infrastructure and education in place.

In geopolitics, much focus will turn to a fight over raw materials as developing nations add great needs for energy and the minerals and food needed to urbanize and industrialize. He also sees severe environmental problems ahead.

The Muslim world is mostly seen as being left out . . . and becoming resentful . . . leading to more terrorism.

Mr. Friedman also encourages companies and countries to find ways to open up this new world to the 3 billion poorest people.

At the end, he describes a world of unbounded opportunity if we only have enough imagination to create a better future.

Mr. Friedman is a good writer, a confessed humanist and a great teller of anecdotes. He traveled to many of the places he wrote about in the book which gives his story depth, color and texture. It also makes his messages more compelling and interesting.

The book has three flaws that will bother many people.

First, his points about global business competition are not new in any way. So this book will be largely a waste of time for those who have been following this development for some time. As a result, this book will be of most value to those who are new to the subject.

Second, his central metaphor of a flat world doesn't really work. Mr. Friedman is arguing that we have a level global playing field except for some minor advantages that already exist (location, raw materials such as oil, education levels, computer and communications access, and knowledge of languages). If he had called the book "The Playing Field Is Level," that metaphor would have worked. He is also arguing that communications place us in great proximity to one another and that trend is continuing. From that observation, it's possible to see the world as a concave bowl with ever rising sides causing all of us to slide closer together at the bottom. "The World Is a Concave Bowl with Rising Sides" isn't much of a book title, so I can see why he avoided that metaphor. Nevertheless, the title metaphor is wrong and it's annoying to have to read so much about it throughout the book. I also found the cover illustration to be annoying for this reason. The world he is describing is one where sailing ships will founder because they cannot survive pitched battles with other sailing ships that have better guns and maneuverability . . . not one where some people are falling off the end of the earth. It's a great illustration . . . but for another book.

Third, many of his solutions are more rhetorical than real. Mr. Friedman would have done better to seek out those who have created major solutions to difficult problems (such as the Grameen Bank in creating entrepreneurs among the impoverished) rather than to describe little experiments that companies have done. But the rhetoric will encourage you to think about what he has to say . . . and perhaps your imagination will be stimulated to see new ways you can contribute. If so, that would be good.

Find new ways to achieve old objectives! And good luck to you as you do.