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

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Thomas Friedman

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2005, English

Nonfiction, General

ISBN: 9780374292881

From the Publisher. When scholars write the history of the world 20 years from now, what will they say was the most crucial development at the dawn of the 21st century—the attacks of 9/11, 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 giving them a huge new stake in the success of globalization? 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? Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt.

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This book, written by New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman in 2005, describes the changing society at the beginning of the 21st century. With globalization, the Internet, and new technologies the world becomes flat, destroying all barriers to the dissemination of knowledge, and offering society the possibility of developing a transparent economy. We can visualize and communicate in real time with anyone all over the world, making a reality what Baudrillard had imagined and defined 20 years earlier as “the ecstasy of communication.”

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