num_pages: 24
description: As the Foreign Affairs columnist for The New YorkTimes, Thomas L. Friedman has traveled to the four corners ofthe globe, interviewing people from all walks of contemporary life  Brazilianpeasants in the Amazon rain forest, new entrepreneurs in Indonesia, Islamicstudents in Teheran, and the financial wizards on Wall Street and in SiliconValley.Now Friedman has drawn on his years on the road to producean engrossing and original look at the new international system that, morethan anything else, is shaping world affairs today: globalization.His argument can be summarized quite simply. Globalizationis not just a phenomenon and not just a passing trend. It is the internationalsystem that replaced the Cold War system. Globalization is the integrationof capital, technology, and information across national borders, in a waythat is creating a single global market and, to some degree, a global village.You cannot understand the morning news or know where toinvest your money or think about where the world is going unless you understandthis new system, which is influencing the domestic policies and internationalrelations of virtually every country in the world today. And once you dounderstand the world as Friedman explains it, you'll never look at it quitethe same way again.With vivid stories and a set of original terms and concepts,Friedman shows us how to see this new system. He dramatizes the conflictof "the Lexus and the olive tree"  the tension between the globalizationsystem and ancient forces of culture, geography, tradition, and community.He also details the powerful backlash that globalization produces amongthose who feel brutalized by it, and he spells out what we all need todo to keep this system in balance.Finding the proper balance between the Lexus and the olivetree is the great drama of the globalization era, and the ultimate themeof Friedman's challenging, provocative book  essential reading for allwho care about how the world really works.Thomas L. Friedman is one of America's leadinginterpreters of world affairs. Born in Minneapolis in 1953, he was educatedat Brandeis University and St. Antony's College, Oxford. His first book,From Beirut to Jerusalem,won the National Book Award in 1988. Mr.Friedman has also won two Pulitzer Prizes for his reporting for TheNew York Times as bureau chief in Beirut and in Jerusalem. He livesin Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, Ann, and their daughters, Orly andNatalie.  
language: English
title: Lexus and the Olive Tree : Understanding Globalization
titlecomplete: Lexus and the Olive Tree : Understanding Globalization
genres: Political Science, Politics, Cultural, Economics, International Relations, Reference, Nonfiction, Business, History, Sociology
ratings_count: 8382
awards: awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Cornelius Ryan Award
publisher: Recorded Books